


Separation

by SalineCoelacanth



Series: Ninjago Fusion Au [3]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: AU, M/M, Ninjago OC, fusion au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:26:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22134022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SalineCoelacanth/pseuds/SalineCoelacanth
Summary: After Vena accidentally casts an unfinished spell on the ninja, their fusions become separated from them and are at risk of disappearing forever. The ninja need to go find their fusions and get them back before its too late.
Relationships: Cole/Jay Walker, Kai/Zane (Ninjago)
Series: Ninjago Fusion Au [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1664923
Comments: 40
Kudos: 106





	1. A Mysterious Spell

**Author's Note:**

> This is technically the third story in my fusion au, although this is just kinda a mini-series. Like the other two fics would be like a full season but this would just be a mini-season I guess. Anyway, if you haven't read those two fics first, you probably should because otherwise you'll probably be confused.  
> (The first fic is just called "Fusion Au" and the second one is "New Potential")

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After helping Vena organize her cave, the ninja find the next day, they are unable to form any of their fusions.

Ninjago often had cycles. Cycles of peace and chaos. Whenever there was peace in Ninjago, the citizens made sure to savor it, because they knew soon enough, trouble would arise again. The ninja made sure to savor the peace more than anyone else. Constantly having to save Ninjago from evil villain after evil villain tended to get stressful. Luckily for the ninja, Ninjago was currently at peace. 

Their last adventure may not have been as stressful as other events, but having to deal with a vengeful half-snake lady and a crazy scientist trying to destroy the fusions they had grown to love was a less than ideal experience. However, it ended almost as well as it could, the half-snake becoming a new ally while the scientist was finally locked away in Kryptarium Prison.

Although Kai and Jay were still a little bit hesitant of Vena, they had grown closer to her. Not as close as Cole or Zane, but they were definitely less wary of her. They were fine visiting her, just not without Cole or Zane with them.

“I still don’t understand why you guys don’t do anything, I don’t know, fun when you hang out.” Jay commented as the ninja all helped Vena organize her cave.

“I am having fun.” Zane replied with a smile as he placed a book on a shelf.

“Well yeah, you actually like this stuff.” Jay responded. “I’m bored out of my mind right now!”

“Then why did you agree to come?” Cole asked.

“I didn’t know we’d be moving books around!”

“Jay, Vena literally told us that’s what we were gonna be doing.”

“Sorry Sparky,” Vena apologized, “But I really needed help with this and I knew if I didn’t get help with it, I’d never get around to finishing it.”

“Well we’re happy to help.” Kai said, “Although I agree with Jay. This is boring.”

“Alright fine, we can take a break.” Vena replied, slightly annoyed. She got out her spell book and put it on her desk.

Cole looked over at her. “So, you got any new spells you’re working on?” he asked.

“Not really,” Vena replied. “I’ve mainly been cleaning out my spell book. I’ve got so many spells in here I either don’t use anymore or I never finished them.”

“Wait, you can just clean out a spell book?” Jay asked, walking over to look at it.

“Yeah,” Vena replied. “I just wipe the page clean like this.” She demonstrated, waving her hand over the page as a purple smoke erased the words on the page, making it completely blank.

“Woah, what did that spell do?” Jay asked.

“It was a sandwich making spell.”

“And you got rid of it!?” Jay questioned.

Vena shrugged. “I don’t need to use magic to make a sandwich. Plus, magic sandwiches don’t taste as good.”

“I agree,” Cole called over. “Magic sandwiches just aren’t as good as they sound.”

Vena continued flipping through her spell book. She stopped on a page that had an unfinished spell on it. “Huh.” she responded as she looked at it.

“What’s this spell?” Jay asked.

“Don’t know,” Vena admitted. “Whatever it is, I didn’t finish it.”

She was about to erase it, but Jay stopped her.

“You can’t just erase it without figuring out what it is first!” he argued. “What if it’s something important that you need?”

“Huh, that’s actually a pretty good point.” Vena replied. “Alright, let me test it out to see what it does.”

“Wait, I thought you said it was unfinished?”

“Well, yeah, but even unfinished spells do stuff. I’ll be able to figure out what this spell was supposed to by casting it.” Vena explained.

“Oh, uh, alright.” Jay responded, a bit unsure about Vena’s decision. 

Vena took a deep breath before she started to read the spell.

“Fracture their soul and take them away. Away from themselves, away from the host. No longer whole, no longer there, take them away to feel my pain.”

The ninja all looked at Vena in confusion as she read the spell. A strange mist streamed through the cave, close to the ground. No one seemed to notice it though. Jay shivered slightly.

“Uh, is it cold in here or is it just me?” Jay asked.

“I didn’t feel anything.” Vena replied. “And I’m half cold blooded. I’m usually pretty sensitive to the cold.”

“No, I felt it too.” Kai replied.

“Me too.” Cole added.

“It was like a gentle breeze came through the cave.” Zane explained.

“Hmm.” Vena thought. “Could be a side effect of the spell. I’m still not sure what it was supposed to do, but I’m sure it’s harmless.”

“Alright then,” Cole responded. “I trust your judgement.” Cole pulled out his phone to check the time. “Woah, it’s getting late.” he informed, “We’d better get going.”

“Alright, see you guys later,” Vena replied.

“Goodbye,” the ninja said as they left the cave.

Vena turned back to the mysterious spell, rereading it in her head. “Why does this spell sound familiar?” she asked herself.

______________________________________________

The ninja arrived back at the monastery. The others were already eating dinner when they got back, so their food was a little cold.

“You guys want me to warm it up a little?” Kai offered, his hand on fire.

“No, last time you did that, you burnt mine.” Jay denied, “I’ll stick with room temperature, thank you very much.”

“Alright, suit yourself.” Kai replied as he started to heat up his plate.

Cole was already halfway done eating. “Wow, Lloyd, you’re getting better at cooking.” he complimented.

“Heh, thanks.” Lloyd replied. “Zane’s been a great teacher.”

“Ahem!” Jay interrupted.

“Sorry,” Lloyd replied. “And Chip. Chip also taught me some things.”

“Hey, as long as it isn’t Cole teaching you.” Kai joked.

“Hey!” Cole argued.

“Yeah, Cole, maybe Chip needs to start teaching you too.” Jay added.

“I don’t think that would end well,” Zane replied. “After all, we saw what happened when he tried teaching Vulcan.”

The whole table started laughing.

“Your fusions sure are something, huh?” Nya said.

“Our fusions are great!” Jay cheered, “I can’t believe Wu said they were ‘potentially dangerous’.”

“He did have a slight point.” Zane said. “After all, there was the Vulcan incident.”

“Why do you guys keep picking on Vulcan!?” Kai asked, slightly offended.

“You say that like he’s a close friend of yours.” Lloyd said.

“Well I’m sure if I could talk to him, we would be good friends.” Kai replied. “Vulcan is great!”

“I’m sensing a bit of bias,” Jay whispered to Nya.

“Alright, Jay. Which fusion would you hang out with if you could?” Kai asked.

“Easy. Ridge.” Jay replied.

“Ha! You chose one of your fusions!” Kai laughed, pointing at him.

“Well duh,” Jay argued. “Swift, Techtonic and Vulcan are all people I actually  _ can  _ hang out with.”

“Whatever you say.” Kai said, crossing his arms. He let out a yawn. “I’m getting tired. I’m probably gonna head to bed soon.”

They all finished their food and decided to get some sleep. They knew they had fusion training the next day, and it had been a while since they had done actual combat training. Master Wu would definitely make them do combat training rather than just doing the usual leisure activities.

The next day, the ninja all woke up early and waited outside for Master Wu. Wu finally entered the training area, pouring a cup of tea for himself. He took a sip of it before speaking to his students.

“I want to see how your combat training has been going for all of your fusions.” he directed.

“ _ All  _ of them?” Kai asked.

Wu nodded. “I want to make sure each of them are still combat ready. We’ll start with Ridge and Swift.”

The ninja all nodded before turning to their fusion partners. Kai and Zane stared at each other before closing their eyes as they surrounded themselves with their powers, Jay and Cole doing the same thing. Master Wu watched them, but they weren’t fusing. Kai opened his eyes and looked at Zane.

“Uh, Zane? Why aren’t we fusing?” Kai asked.

Zane opened his eyes as well. “Strange.” 

The two of them looked over at Jay and Cole who seemed to be having the same problem. 

“What the heck!?” Jay questioned. “What’s going on? Ridge and Swift are usually the easiest fusions for us to form!”

Master Wu thought for a moment. “Perhaps trying a different fusion pair?”

“Good idea.” Cole replied. 

The four of them moved around, Kai and Jay pairing up while Cole and Zane teamed together. They attempted the same thing, but they still weren’t fusing.

“Uh…” Jay thought. “Maybe Chip and Vulcan?”

They all moved around once more, but just like with their other attempts, nothing was happening.

“Alright, what is going on!?” Jay yelled, “Master, why can’t we fuse?”

“I…” Wu paused. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Kai asked. “You always have the answer for why things aren’t working.”

“Have any of you gotten into any major fights recently?” Wu asked.

“No.” Cole replied.

“That shouldn’t even matter.” Kai said. “When Zane and I were mad at each other, we were still able to form Swift.”

“Something weird is going on.” Jay pointed out.

Before the ninja could continue theorizing on what was going on with their fusions, they heard the gates to the monastery slam open. They all turned around in shock and saw Vena, leaning over, panting.

“Why… are there so many… stairs?” She asked, out of breath.

“Vena, what are you doing here?” Cole asked as the four ninja ran over towards the half-snake.

She looked up, worry in her eyes. “You guys have been separated from your fusions.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I'm starting to realize that my starting chapters and final chapters are pretty short XD  
> Oh well, next chapter will be longer than this, don't worry


	2. Arcade Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After learning about what happened to their fusions, Jay and Cole set off to go find Ridge.

“Woah woah woah, what do you mean we’ve been ‘separated’ from out fusions?” Jay asked.

The four ninja, along with Master Wu, were still in the training area talking to Vena.

“So after you guys left, I started thinking about that spell.” Vena explained. “I felt like something about that spell was familiar to me, and then I remembered what it was supposed it be. It was the spell I was going to use to kill your fusions.”

“WHAT!?” Jay screamed, “You KILLED out fusions!?”

“No I didn’t!” Vena yelled, “That’s what the spell would’ve done if I finished it. All it did was separate your fusions from your bodies.”

“Ok, cool.” Kai replied. “What does that mean?”

“It means you can’t fuse into any of your fusions because they’re off wandering somewhere.” Vena continued. “And they’ll continue to do that unless you guys get them back.”

“Hold on, I’m still confused.” Cole replied. “So our fusions are just, existing on their own right now?”

“Yep,” Vena said. “And you guys need to go find them so I can put them back.”

“How could you just forget about a spell like that!?” Cole asked.

“It wasn’t labeled, Cole!” Vena argued.

“WHY DIDN'T YOU LABEL IT!?”   
“I’M NOT AN ORGANIZED PERSON!”

“Wait, hold on,” Jay interrupted. “This could be cool!”

“What are you talking about?” Cole asked, slight frustration in his voice.

“We were just talking last night about how cool it would be to hang out with our fusions! Well, if they’re separated from our bodies, we can actually hang out with them!”

“Woah, Jay has a good point,” Kai agreed.

“Yeah, sounds fun on paper,” Vena said. “But there’s just one problem. Your fusions can’t really sustain themselves without you guys. So if we don’t get them back, they could disappear. Forever.”

Jay’s eyes went wide. “WE CAN’T LET THAT HAPPEN!”

“We won’t let that happen.” Cole assured. 

“Vena, what all do we need to do to get them back?” Zane asked.

“If you guys can get all of them in one place, I should be able to perform a counterspell to put them back.”

“Alright, we just have to find them and bring them here. Sounds easy.” Kai commented.

“Well, actually…” Vena paused. “They uh… won’t know that they’re fusions.”

“What?” Kai asked.

“They won’t know that they have any relation to you guys. I’ll be surprised if they even recognize you at all.” Vena explained. “Convincing them to come with you might be difficult.”

“So how are we supposed to convince them?” Cole asked.

“There might be a way to get their memories back, but I don’t know.” Vena replied. “I’m still trying to figure out how it all works. Magic is confusing.”

“Don’t worry, Vena. You’re doing the best you can.” Zane assured. He turned to the others. “We’d better start searching for them.”

The others nodded before turning to Master Wu.

“Any ideas where to look?” Kai asked.

Wu shook his head. “They’re your fusions. You should be the ones to figure it out.”

“Alright…” Kai replied. “We’ll split up. Jay and Cole, you guys go look for Ridge while Zane and I go and look for Swift.”

“Got it.” Cole responded. “Let’s go, Jay.”

______________________________________________

Jay and Cole both arrived in the city. They kept their eyes peeled for Ridge.

“I don’t think he should be that hard to find.” Jay said. “I mean sure, he looks like a normal person, but he’s kinda tall. That should make him easy to spot.”

“Jay, he’s only slightly above average height.” Cole pointed out.

“It’s still above average!” Jay argued.

The two of them continued walking down the streets of Ninjago City when they encountered a random passerby.

“Hey, Jay, Cole! Congrats on getting that new record!” the citizen complimented.

“Uh, what?” Jay asked.

“You know, at the arcade?” the person tried to remind them, “You guys crushed that highscore! I literally just saw you guys there. You two sure get around quickly.”

Jay and Cole looked at each other as the random person continued walking. They both gasped as they realized where to go.

“The arcade!” they both said.

The two of them quickly made their way towards the arcade as fast as they could. Without hesitating, Jay kicked the doors open dramatically, causing pretty much everyone in the arcade to stare at the two ninja. They all gave confused looks and began whispering to each other. 

“Alright, Cole, let me do the talking.” Jay ordered. “I’ve been here plenty of times. I know how these people work.”

“Alright, lead the way.” Cole replied. 

Jay walked up to a nearby table where four little kids were sitting. They all looked at Cole and Jay, confused. 

“Alright, we can do this the hard way, or the easy way.” Jay said, trying to sound intimidating. “Have you guys seen a slightly above average guy with dark brown hair, green eyes, probably wearing-”

“How are you two here?” One of the kids interrupted.

“Yeah, we just saw Ridge like, two seconds ago.” another kid added.

“So, you know his name.” Jay continued.

“Jay, of course they know his name. Everyone knows Ridge is our fusion.” Cole said.

“Oh. Yeah.” Jay realized. He turned back to the group of kids. “So uh, where’d he go?”

The kids all pointed towards the back of the arcade where most of the harder arcade machines were.

“Thank you for your cooperation.” Jay said as he walked towards the spot the kids pointed to. Cole let out a sigh, giving a quick facepalm as he followed Jay towards the back of the arcade.

As they got closer to the back, they noticed a large crowd. The two of them squeezed their way through the crowd, Jay occasionally yelling at people to move out of the way. Whenever people saw the two of them, they looked confused as the two ninja made their way through the crowd. They finally made their way to a small opening where they saw Ridge wearing his casual clothes, playing the arcade machine with two other teenagers standing next to him, watching him play.

“He’s on fire!” one of the teens commented.

“He’s unstoppable!” the other added.

Ridge let out a quick chuckle. “No one can beat me at any of these games.” he bragged.

“Hey, Ridge!” Jay called.

“Not now.” Ridge dismissed. “I gotta beat this level.”

Jay was taken aback as he heard Ridge talk. He sounded a lot more arrogant than usual, and he had a slight edge to his tone. He just watched in surprise as Ridge continued playing the game. Finally, the screen changed, indicating he beat the level.

“Yeah!” Ridge cheered, high fiving the two teens standing next to him before turning around. “Alright, what do you want?” he asked before grabbing a soda cup and slurping on it obnoxiously.

Jay and Cole both stared at Ridge, not really sure what to say. 

“Uh…” Jay finally spoke. “We need you to come with us.”

“Oh, I get it.” Ridge replied, setting the cup down. “You want a selfie, don’t you?”

“What, no, we-”

Before Jay could say anything else, Ridge quickly pulled out a phone and wrapped his arm around Jay, snapping a quick picture before backing off, typing on his phone.

“Alright, I’ll just post it and tag you. What’s your username?” Ridge asked.

“I didn’t want a selfie!” Jay yelled.

“Oh, you wanted an autograph.” Ridge corrected himself. “My bad.” He quickly pulled out a notebook and started writing in it before ripping out the page and handing it to Jay.

“What the? Where’d you even get that?” Jay asked.

“Another kid wanted an autograph and he just let me keep the notebook.” Ridge explained.

“I’m not a kid!” Jay argued.

“Oh sorry, you’re so short I must have mistaken you for one.” Ridge apologized insincerely

“Listen you-”

“Alright, Jay, why don’t you let me do 

the taking.” Cole offered.

“Wait, Jay?” Ridge asked.

Jay looked at Ridge, hope in his eyes. “Yes, Jay! I’m Jay!”

“Woah, really?” Ridge asked. “You’re 

the dude who’s highscore I just beat.”

Jay’s eyes went wide in shock as he 

stared at Ridge. His face slowly started turning more and more angry.

“Uh oh.” Cole replied. Before Jay could snap at Ridge, Cole quickly grabbed him and carried him away towards a table.

“HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!” Jay yelled as Cole dragged him away. “IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO GET THAT HIGH SCORE!”

“Jay, calm down!” Cole ordered, sitting down across from the seat he placed Jay in. “This isn’t about some dumb score! This is about getting Ridge back.”

Jay sighed. “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

“Vena was right. He doesn’t remember who he is.” Cole said. “And he also doesn’t recognize us. This might be harder than we thought.”

“But didn’t Vena say we could get his memories back?” Jay asked. “If we can get his memories back, then we can get him to come with us!”

“But we don’t know how to do that.” Cole reminded. “It might be easier if we can convince him to just come with us.”

“But he’s acting like an entitled jerk!” Jay argued. “How are we gonna get him to listen?”

Jay and Cole’s conversation was interrupted as someone slammed a cup on their table. They both looked over to see Ridge leaning over their table, his hand on his hip.

“Hey, you two.” Ridge said. “For some reason, people keep asking me about you two and they won’t leave me alone, so can you tell me who you two are so I can get these people off my back?”

“Well, I’m Jay, and this is Cole.” Jay introduced. “And you’re our fusion. We need you to come with us so we can put you back where you belong.”

Ridge gave both of them a blank stare, not saying anything at first. “Dude, I just asked for your names, not whatever weird fanfiction you have about me.”

“It’s not fanfiction!” Jay yelled. “Ugh, this is hopeless.”

“Look, I get it. It’s not everyday you get to meet someone as skilled as me, but you’re kinda weirding me out.” Ridge said. “No one likes a crazy fan, uh, Cole.”

“I’m Jay!”

“Whatever.”

“Listen, Ridge,” Cole stepped in, “How can we get you to listen to us?”

Ridge looked around awkwardly. “Uh, you guys are really freaking me out, and I gotta go…”

“Wait!” Jay stopped him.

Ridge paused, turning back to Jay. “What do you want now?”

Jay looked over at Cole before taking a deep breath. “I have a little bet for you.”

“Hm?” Ridge questioned. “I’m listening.”

“If I can beat you in one of the games here, you have to come with us back to the monastery.” Jay bargained.

“What do I get if I win?” Ridge asked.

“Jay, what are you doing?” Cole whispered.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this.” Jay assured. He turned back to Ridge. “If you beat me, I’ll buy you a mega pizza with as many toppings as you want.”

“Jay, this isn’t gonna work!” Cole argued.

“A mega pizza with ANYTHING I want?” Ridge repeated, his eyes full of awe. “You’re on!”

Cole stared at him in shock before looking back at Jay. “How did you know he’d accept that?”

“Easy. He’s one of your fusions.” Jay replied.

“Alright, you got me there.” Cole agreed. “But this still won’t work! Ridge’ll destroy you!”

“Relax, Cole, he got his gaming skills from me. I’ll be fine.”

“No, he got it from  _ both  _ of us!”

“No time to argue.” Jay said. “I can do this, trust me.”

The two of them followed Ridge to one of the game machines. It was bigger than normal as it had room for two people to play so Ridge and Jay wouldn’t have to take turns. Ridge immediately took the first player spot while Jay was stuck with second player. There was something about having to be the second player that just made you feel inferior by default. 

Jay gave Ridge a determined expression while Ridge shot back with a confident smirk. Cole watched uneasily with his arms crossed. The game began and the two of them instantly put all of their focus on the game. They had to get as many points as possible by shooting enemies as they popped up on screen. Jay was pretty good at this game and was feeling confident in his abilities until he glanced over at Ridge’s side and saw how high his score was. Jay quickly shook his head and turned his attention back to his screen.

_ Concentrate, Jay!  _ He told himself.  _ You can’t give up! _

__ He started mashing the button to shoot as fast as he could. His points started climbing faster and faster. Ridge noticed this and started getting slightly worried. He glared at the screen before giving a smirk as tiny sparks of electricity generated in his hand. The screen glitched slightly for a brief moment. Jay blinked in surprise, but no one else seemed to notice. He looked back at Ridge’s score and saw it had jumped extremely high.

“What the?” But before Jay could question anything else, the game ended with the words ‘First Player Wins' flashing on the screen.

A bunch of people started cheering and Ridge turned to Jay with a smug look on his face.

“I’ll be taking that pizza now.” he said.

“No way, you cheated!” Jay accused.

The crowd all gasped as the whole room went quiet. Ridge looked around awkwardly.

“I don’t know what your talking about.” Ridge lied.

“Jay, what are you saying?” Cole asked.

“He used his lightning powers to hack the game and change his score!” Jay yelled. “How else would his score have jumped that high?”

“Did you ever think that maybe you're just bad at the game?” Ridge asked.

“Ooo!” The crowd continued their commentary.

“Well did you ever think that your life is pointless without these video games?” Jay shot back.

The crowd gasped again, clearly deeply invested in the conflict going on.

“Well at least I’m good at something.” Ridge argued, leaning closer towards Jay to intimidate him. “From what I’ve seen of you, you haven’t really accomplished much, have you? You need your little babysitter here to make sure you don’t get into trouble, and even he’s doing a pretty poor job of that.”

Jay flinched slightly, but continued to stand tall. “You don’t even realize what your missing.” he said.

“It must not be important if I don’t realize I’m missing it.” Ridge replied.

Jay felt his eyes begin to get watery, but he held his tears back, trying not to look weak.

“C’mon, Jay,” Cole urged. “Let’s go.”

“Don’t forget about my pizza!” Ridge called after the two of them as they walked back towards the table. He looked at the crowd for support, and while some people cheered him on, a lot of people walked away with disappointed and disgusted looks on their faces. Ridge just shrugged before turning back to the game machine to start a new round by himself.

“Don’t listen to him.” Cole attempted to comfort Jay, having an arm wrapped around him.

“He’s right, Cole. I’m useless.” Jay cried softly, finally letting himself cry, although it was quiet.

“Don’t say that!” Cole argued, grabbing Jay’s face and turning it to his. “Don’t ever call yourself useless!”

“Ha, what a sore loser.” a teen commented about Jay as he watched Ridge play. “You’re better off without those two.”

“Heh, yeah.” Ridge agreed. “I don’t need to hang out with nerds like those two.” Ridge glanced over towards Jay and Cole, but quickly turned his head towards them, completely ignoring the game.

“Uh, Ridge? You ok?” the teen asked, but Ridge didn’t seem to care much. He was focussed on Cole and Jay as he listened to their conversation.

“You can’t let others get in your head like that.” Cole continued.

“But it’s Ridge who said it…” Jay replied. “It’s… it’s different hearing it from him…”

“Jay,” Cole repeated. “You are so strong Jay. Don’t forget that.”

Ridge’s eyes widened as he heard those words. “You’re strong…” Ridge whispered. By now, he had completely taken all his focus away from the game and had already gotten a game over. The other person was still trying to get Ridge’s attention, but it wasn’t working. 

Ridge could see faint images playing back in his head, slowly becoming more and more clear.

'I am strong.' He heard himself say, standing in a dark pit. 'I am strong, I AM strong!' As the image grew clearer and clearer, Ridge saw himself standing proud in a navy blue ninja gi.

“I am strong!” Ridge repeated out loud, his body starting to glow slightly.

“Woah, what’s going on?” the teen asked, stepping back as Ridge’s body got brighter.

“It doesn’t matter what others think of me, I’m great in my own way!” Ridge continued cheering as the light faded. He was no longer wearing his casual jacket and tee shirt. Instead, he was in his ninja gi.

Cole and Jay didn’t seem to notice Ridge as Jay was still feeling upset and Cole was too focussed on making Jay feel better. Cole wrapped his arms around Jay, holding him close and closing his eyes to comfort the small ninja.

“Everything’s gonna be o- ACK!” Cole was interrupted as he felt someone come up and squeeze his body tight.

“ACK! Cole, what the heck!?” Jay yelled, “You don’t need to hug so tight!”

“It’s not me!” Cole assured.

The two of them noticed the dark blue arms wrapped around them. They looked up and saw Ridge, tears streaming down his face.

“I’m so sorry you guys!” he cried.

“Woah, Ridge!” Cole said, shocked.

“I was such a jerk!” Ridge continued. He finally released the two of them before picking up Jay and hugging him even tighter. “I’m so sorry I hurt you, Jay! I’m supposed to make you feel more confident! I’m supposed to cheer you up! But I made you cry!”

“It’s ok Ridge,” Jay assured, completely out of breath, “Can you please let me go now?”

“Oh, sorry!” Ridge apologized, releasing Jay from his death hug.

“Ridge, you’re back!” Cole replied, smiling at his fusion.

“Yep, I’m back!” Ridge said, smiling at Jay and Cole. He stared at the two of them with a smile before quickly shifting his expression to a confused look. “Wait… If I’m here, existing, then how are you two here?”

“It’s a long story,” Jay explained. “But first, let’s get out of this dumb arcade.”

“Uh, alright.” Ridge replied, following his components out of the arcade. “Oh and uh… Do I still get that pizza?” he asked.

“No.” Jay and Cole both replied instantly.

“Ok yeah, that’s fair…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing the fusions in this fic is gonna be really interesting, because none of them act like themselves... I'm definitely excited to get to the other fusions


	3. Benched

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kai and Zane struggle to get Swift back to the monastery

Kai let out an annoyed sigh. “This is taking forever.” he complained.

“We cannot give up, Kai.” Zane responded. “Let’s hope Cole and Jay are having better luck…”

Kai and Zane were still searching the city to find their lost fusion. They had been searching for hours and couldn’t find anything, not even a single clue hinting to Swift’s whereabouts.

“We’ve searched the entire city, Zane!” Kai continued ranting. “Are you sure Swift is even in Ninjago City?”

“Hmm… It is possible that he is elsewhere,” Zane replied. “But Vena did tell us they were most likely in Ninjago City.”

The two of them continued walking down the street. Zane had started using his scanner to try and get a better search through the city.

“Zane, we’ve already searched this street like, three times.” Kai pointed out.

“But if Swift is also moving, it would be best to double check places we’ve already searched,” Zane informed. “Or in this case, triple check.”

“Oh crap,” Kai replied. “If Swift is moving around, we’ll never catch him! You know how fast he can be!”

Zane continued looking around until he noticed something. “Kai,” he tried to get his attention.

“I bet Jay and Cole are going to find Ridge and get him back to the monastery all before we even see Swift!”

“Kai.”

“I get that he’s a ninja, but he wears pink for crying out loud! He shouldn’t be this hard to find!”

“KAI!”

“What?”

Zane pointed towards the other side of the street. Kai looked over and let out a gasp as he spotted a familiar face.

“Swift!” Kai cheered.

Swift was sitting on a bench, his legs crossed and his arms resting on the backrest of the bench. He was wearing his familiar pink sweatshirt and a pair of sunglasses. Kai instantly started running across the street towards Swift.

“Kai! You need to watch for oncoming traffic!” Zane called after him.

“Oh c’mon, Zane! It’s not that big of a deal!” Kai retorted. He quickly jumped over a car and swerved between all the vehicles on the road. As he reached the other side of the street, he did a flip before landing on the ground in front of Swift.

Zane was still on the other side of the street, waiting patiently before crossing the street safely. He met with Kai, standing next to the red ninja.

“Ok I guess that was safer,” Kai admitted, “But I looked cooler. Especially after that flip. Right Swift?”

He looked over at Swift, but the fusion didn’t seem to be paying attention. Kai looked back at Zane confused before turning back to Swift.

“Uh, Swift?” he asked.

“Hm?” Swift turned towards Kai, lifting his sunglasses up. “Woah, cool outfit, dude.”

“What?” Kai questioned.

“Did he just call you, ‘dude’?” Zane asked.

“Yeah man,” Swift continued, “You look like one of those ninja everyone was talking about.” He let out a laugh, putting his sunglasses back on. “It’s radical, man.”

“Oh God he said radical, Zane what do we do?” Kai said, starting to panic.

“It appears his lack of memories has affected Swift’s personality.” Zane observed. “Not only does he not remember us, he doesn’t remember himself, either.”

“Well that’s ok, we just need Vena to put him back and he’ll be back to normal, right?” Kai asked.

“Yes, that should work.” Zane answered.

Swift laughed again. “You sound pretty smart. You talk smart is what I mean.” he started rambling. “I like to think that I’m pretty smart, but like, in a philosophical way, you know?”

Kai just stared at Swift, at a complete loss for words. 

“Dude, is something wrong, man?” Swift asked.

“Stop talking like that!” Kai yelled. “It’s freaking me out!”

“Woah dude, I think you need to take a chill pill.” Swift held out his hand, creating a pill-shaped piece of ice in his hands. He chuckled. “Get it, chill pill, cause it’s ice.”

“I DON’T NEED YOUR STUPID CHILL PILL!” Kai shouted.

“Woah,” Swift replied, “You seem like you have some serious issues, dude.”

“STOP CALLING ME DUDE!”

“Ok, Kai, calm down.” Zane said in a calming voice. 

Kai took a deep breath. “I’m calm now.”

Swift started laughing again. “Yeah, just chillax.”

“Now he’s saying chillax! Zane, I can’t take this anymore!” Kai shouted.

Zane let out a disappointed sigh. “Look, Swift, we really need you to come with us. It’s vitally important.”

“Heh, vitally. That’s not a word you hear everyday” Swift chuckled. “You know what, I think we as a society should start being more diverse with our vocabulary.”

“What is he even saying?” Kai asked.

“I’m not really saying anything,” Swift said, “I’m just going through the motions of life.”

“Going through the motions? You’re sitting on a bench doing nothing!” Kai argued.

“Yeah man,” Swift kept going, “Life is a bench. Everyone just needs a good bench every once in a while, you know what I’m saying?”

“My brain is starting to hurt.” Kai mumbled. “Zane, let’s just get him back to the monastery already.”

“Alright.” Zane agreed. “Swift, come with us, please.”

“What? No, this is my bench, man.” Swift argued.

“Alright then, let’s just take him by force.” Kai decided, clearly getting annoyed.

Kai grabbed Swift’s arm and attempted to pull the fusion off of the bench, but he wouldn’t budge.

“Oh, c’mon!” Kai yelled. “Zane, a little help?”

Zane walked over and grabbed Swift’s other arm, trying to pull him.

“Why aren’t you moving!?” Kai demanded.

“You can never just force things to happen, man,” Swift explained. “You gotta let the wind push you.”

“I’m about ready to push you if you don’t get up right now!” Kai yelled.

“Woah, stop acting like my dad.” Swift joked.

“YOU DON’T HAVE A DAD, YOU’RE A FUSION!” Kai was starting to reach his limit. “Ugh! This is all Vena’s fault! Why didn’t she just get rid of that stupid spell!?”

“Actually, Jay was the one who told her to perform the spell.” Zane reminded.

“Oh, yeah, you’re right.” Kai realized. “I’m gonna punch Jay when I see him.”

“Violence isn’t the answer-” Swift started.

“I swear if you call me ‘dude’ or ‘man’ ONE MORE TIME!” Kai warned.

“Whatever, man.”

“Ok, I’m done!” Kai stomped to the back of the bench, attempting to lift it up.

“Kai, what are you doing?” Zane asked.

“I’m trying to flip this stupid bench.” Kai replied. 

“I- ok?” Zane responded, confused.

“Look, red ninja dude,” Swift said, “Maybe you just need to sit down, relax a bit.”

“You know what, maybe I will!” Kai retorted. He walked over and sat down on the bench next to Swift, his arms crossed. “Oh, this is actually really nice.” Kai commented. He leaned back, resting his arms on the back of it.

“See, you just need to let go of all your problems.” Swift advised.

“Yeah.” Kai agreed.

“Kai!” Zane urged.

“Oh, sorry.” Kai apologized, standing up. “Alright Swift, time to go.”

“What do you even need me for?” Swift asked.

“We need to take you back and put you back where you belong before you disappear forever.” Kai explained.

“Woah,” Swift replied. “That’s deep man.”

“It’s not-” Kai took a deep breath, stopping himself. “We really need you to just come with us.” Kai continued, speaking through clenched teeth.

The two of them were interrupted when Zane’s communicator started going off. He clicked it, answering the call.

“Zane? Kai? How are you guys doing?” Jay asked.

Zane sighed. “We could be doing better…” he replied. “Have you two gotten Ridge?”

“Yep.” Jay replied. “He’s all good now. Did you guys find Swift?”

“We  _ found  _ him,” Kai responded, an edge to his tone, “But he won’t budge.”

“Yeah, we struggled to convince Ridge to come with us too.”

“No, he LITERALLY won’t budge!” Kai clarified. “He’s just sitting on a dumb bench!”

“We could really use some help.” Zane said.

“Alright, we’ll be headed your way!” Jay assured.

Zane’s communicator clicked, indicating Jay had hung up. “Hopefully they get here soon.” Zane said.

“Yeah.” Kai agreed.

“Heck yeah, the more the merrier!” Swift cheered.

“Not another word out of you!” Kai ordered, although deep down he knew Swift would ignore that.

Zane and Kai continued waiting around, forced to listen to Swift’s nonsensical ramblings. Kai was trying his best to keep his cool, although he struggled a lot. Luckily, Zane was there to help him calm down and make sure he didn’t try to strangle Swift. Eventually, they saw Jay, Cole and Ridge arrive.

“Sorry we took so long.” Cole apologized. “We were all the way at the arcade.”

“It’s fine,” Zane assured, “We just-”

“Swift! There you are!” Ridge interrupted, walking up to the fusion. “How ya doing, buddy?”

“Ha ha, buddy. That’s another good word.” Swift commented. “I prefer comrade though.”

Ridge gave Swift a blank stare. “What the heck is wrong with him?” he asked.

“Ridge, don’t you remember?” Cole asked. “He doesn’t remember who he is, just like the problem you had.”

“Yeah but like, why is he talking like that?” Ridge clarified.

“That’s what I’ve been wondering!” Kai agreed.

“I don’t know, he seems kinda chill.” Jay said. “Why do you guys need our help to get him back to the monastery?”

“He literally will not move from this bench.” Kai explained.

“It’s like I said, man,” Swift said. “You can’t force life to happen. You don’t get to choose life. Life chooses you.”

“Oh no, he’s worse than I thought.” Ridge responded.

“Uh, Ridge, you were the one acting like a complete jerk to us earlier.” Jay reminded.

“And I’ve grown a lot since then.” Ridge replied. “But that’s not my point. My point is… Ok I don’t actually have a point, let’s just grab him and go.” Ridge grabbed Swift’s arm and attempted to pick him up, but just like with Kai and Zane, Swift refused to move. “What the heck?” he asked. He tried his best to rip Swift away from the bench, but Swift continued sitting firmly on the bench. “Swift! Get off of the stupid bench!”

“This bench is like, my home man,” Swift explained. “I am one with the bench.”

“What does that mean!?” Ridge questioned.

“Listen, he’s been spouting nonsense this entire time,” Kai explained. “I don’t know what he means by anything.”

“Maybe you need to sit down and relax.” Swift offered.

“I’m not gonna sit down and relax when my best friend needs my help!” Ridge argued.

Swift chuckled. “Yeah, loyalty’s a good trait to have.” he replied. “You should always help out your friends.”

“Swift, YOU ARE my friend!” Ridge tried to convince him.

“Sorry dude, my only friends are the wind and this bench.” Swift apologized.

“Oh God,” Ridge replied. “He’s been possessed by the bench!”

“Ridge, he’s not possessed by the bench!” Kai argued.

“I think you may be confusing me with someone else.” Swift said. “Swift’s a pretty common name.”

“No it isn’t!” Ridge disagreed.

“Listen, Swift.” Zane stepped in. “If you don’t come with us, you’ll be in grave danger.”

“Heh heh, that’s funny.” Swift ignored Zane’s warning. Suddenly, both Swift and Ridge become overwhelmed with pain. Ridge fell to his knees while Swift leaning over, holding his stomach. The two fusions screamed in pain as their bodies started to glitch out.

“Ridge, are you ok?” Jay asked, reaching his hand out.

“I’m fine…” Ridge replied after his body stopped glitching.

Swift sat back up. His sunglasses had fallen off and he just stared at Ridge with a blank expression. “Woah,” he said. “That was wild.”

“Alright, Swift, I’ve had enough!” Ridge yelled, standing back up. “This isn’t like you! You have to snap out of it! You’re not the type of person to sit around and wait for life to happen to you, you MAKE life happen! You’re strong and confident, maybe even a little cocky sometimes, but you still care! Please, Swift…”

“Wow, you’re really confused.”

“I look up to you, Swift.” Ridge finished.

“Huh?” Swift questioned. He looked up at Ridge. “You… look up to me?”

“Of course I do.” Ridge replied. “You’re one of the closest things to a perfect relationship I’ve seen.”

Swift blinked before turning away. “I… I would probably just disappoint you.”

Kai and Zane both blinked in surprise. For once, Swift was actually talking normally.

“Swift,” Ridge said. “You don’t need to be afraid of disappointing me. People make mistakes and that’s ok.”

Swift blinked again in shock and confusion. “Mistakes?” he shook his head. “I’ve made too many mistakes…” Small bits of ice started to form on the bench where Swift sat.

“No you haven’t.” Ridge insisted. “Mistakes are normal, Swift. You don’t need to be perfect all the time.”

“But if I stop caring… If I just stay here, I can’t make anymore mistakes…”

“Refusing to make mistakes is one of the biggest mistakes you can make!”

Swift turned back towards Ridge. Ridge gave him a gentle smile. Swift then turned back towards Kai and Zane. The more he stared at the two, the more they started to feel familiar somehow. 

“But… I’m scared…” Swift whispered.

“We were scared too, once.” Kai said. “We thought if we fused, we’d form something terrifying, but we didn't. We formed you.”

Swift felt as if he could see something blurry in his head. All he could make out was a flying ship and that it was night time. He shook his head, getting the thoughts out of his head.

“Swift,” Kai continued, placing a hand on the fusion’s shoulder. “It’s ok.”

Zane walked up, standing next to Kai. “You don’t have to be afraid of making mistakes.”

Swift’s eyes widened as he saw a new vision. He sat in a glass dome, his friend there to comfort him. He felt so afraid, but suddenly everything started glowing. His fear disapeared and the dome shattered. “I don’t have to be afraid…” Swift whispered. His body started glowing. Kai and Zane got a little freaked out and stepped back slightly. Cole and Jay both watched with confused looks.

“What’s going on?” Jay asked. “Why is he glowing?”

“Did you guys seriously miss when I started glowing back at the arcade?” Ridge asked.

“Well sorry, Ridge, I was having an emotional breakdown!” Jay defended.

Swift’s body continued glowing bright. “I’m already great at a lot of things,” he said. “I don’t need to be perfect at everything I do!” The light surrounding Swift’s body faded as he appeared in his ninja gi, standing proud.

“Swift!” Kai cheered.

Without hesitation, Zane hugged the fusion. Kai quickly followed.

“Woah, calm down guys.” Swift laughed.

“We’re just really happy to have you back.” Kai said.

“Alright, alright.” Swift replied. Kai and Zane released him from the hug and stepped back a little bit. “Ok, we should head back to the monastery now.”

“Wait, aren’t you gonna question why Kai and Zane are here?” Ridge asked.

“Yeah, and how Ridge is here when Cole and I are here?” Jay added.

Swift shrugged. “I assume Vena did some magic thing and now we’re split from out components. It’s really not that hard to believe.”

“Ok, enough chatting.” Kai interrupted. “Let’s head back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> B E N C H  
> I have been going crazy over this stupid bench and I don't know why XD  
> Anyway, I have seriously been having a lot of fun writing this fic. I hope you guys enjoy reading it. I haven't really written a lot of 'silly' things like this before and it's just really dumb. I still don't know why I love Swift's strange obsession with this bench so much, but I just do. Sorry for rambling, my life has just been overtaken by this bench (just like Swift)


	4. A Date to Remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding Ridge and Swift, the ninja split up again with Kai and Jay going after Fleet.

The ninja all arrived back at the monastery. They went to the living room to regroup and discuss what to do next. Lloyd and Nya joined them to try and help out after Master Wu explained what happened to their fusions.

“Alright, what are we gonna do next?” Ridge asked, excitedly.

“Well you two are staying here.” Cole directed. “The four of us are gonna go look for the rest of the fusions.”

“What!?” Ridge questioned angrily. “Why can’t we come help you guys?”

“Ridge, you saw what happened earlier,” Kai explained. “You two started glitching out. We can’t risk you guys getting hurt or something happening to you. You’ll just have to stay here until we can get everyone else back.”

“C’mon, Ridge, it’ll be ok.” Swift assured.

“Plus Nya and I will be here,” Lloyd added. “So at least you won’t be alone.”

“Alright…” Ridge sighed. 

“So, what’s the plan now?” Jay asked, turning to the other ninja.

“The next logical step would be to go after Fleet and Techtonic,” Zane explained. “So Cole and I can go look for Techtonic while you and Kai go after Fleet.”

“Alright then, no time to waste, let’s go!” Kai rushed them.

_____________________________________________

The ninja split up once again to search the city. Jay and Kai wandered the streets thinking of a place where they would be able to find Fleet.

“Cole and I found Ridge at the arcade,” Jay explained, “Which is a place Cole and I like to go when we fuse.”

“Yeah, but Swift was sitting on a bench and Zane and I don’t do that a lot.” Kai replied.

“Hmm…” Jay thought for a moment. “Oh! Let me check my phone!”

“What would checking your phone have to do with anything?” Kai asked.

“When we found Ridge, he was posting stuff online. Maybe Fleet’s doing the same thing and we can figure out where he is!” Jay explained.

“Huh. Ridge actually did interesting stuff, I see.” Kai responded, sounding a little annoyed.

“What? Upset that Swift was stuck to a bench?”

“Shut up.” 

Jay let out a little laugh before checking his phone. “Ah ha!” Jay said. “He posted something!”

“What does it say?” Kai asked.

“‘Having a great time at the skatepark. Turns out there’s a lot of cuties here’.” Jay paused. “Uhh…What does he mean by ‘cuties’?”

“Uhh…” Kai replied. “I guess we’ll find out when we get there.”

The two made their way to the skatepark as fast as they could. They were almost there when they got a call from Cole.

“How are you guys doing?” Cole asked.

“We’re doing fine,” Jay replied. “We think we know where Fleet is, so we shouldn’t have too many troubles from now on.”

“That’s good.” Cole replied, “Zane and I are on our way to the library. We heard from some other people that Techtonic might be there.”

“Nice.” Jay said. “I have to go. Kai and I are about to get to the skatepark.”

“Alright,” Cole responded. “Good luck with Fleet.”

Jay hung up and turned to Kai. “My real question is why Fleet is at a skatepark.” he said. “Fleet’s never went skating before.”

“I don’t know, but that doesn’t matter.” Kai replied. “Just as long as we find him.”

As the two of them entered the park area, they were surprised to see not a lot of people were actually skating. The park had a spot for roller skating and skateboarding, but both of them were almost completely barren.

“What the?” Kai questioned. “Where is everyone?”

Kai and Jay heard the sound of girls laughing. They turned to see a crowd of people. They looked at each other before walking over to the crowd to see what was going on.

“Oh Fleet, you’re so funny!” One of the girls laughed.

Kai and Jay noticed Fleet standing in the middle of the crowd. 

“Oh, you’re too kind.” Fleet replied. “You know, I used to think I was one of the most attractive people that I knew, but then I met you.”

The girl started blushing. “F-Fleet!”

“It’s true.” Fleet assured, holding the girl’s hand in his own before kissing it. “You’re shimmering blue eyes really make me feel a spark inside.” Fleet quickly shot a tiny spark of lightning from his fingers.

“What about me, Fleet?” another girl called.

“And me?”

“Girls, girls, calm down,” Fleet said. “You’re all amazingly beautiful.”

The girls all gave out dreamy sighs.

Kai turned to a guy standing next to him. “Uh, what’s going on here?” Kai asked.

“Fleet’s been flirting with everyone at the park today,” the guy explained. “I’m personally a little confused by this, but everyone else seems happy.”

“Ok then…” Kai responded.

“Wait a minute…” the guy replied. “Aren’t you two-”

“Fleet’s components?” Jay interrupted. “Yep. And we kinda need to talk to him.”

The guy looked over at Fleet and then back at the ninja, confused. “Alright.”

“Hey Fleet!” Kai called.

“Now now, you’ll get your turn,” Fleet replied. He turned to look at Kai. He stopped before looking at Kai up and down. “Well well well,” he said. “You’ve got a lot of style, now don’t you?”

“Uhh…” Kai replied starting to feel slightly awkward and confused.

“Now, you said you wanted to talk to me?” Fleet asked.

“Yes?” Kai replied, confusion in his voice.

Fleet let out a little laugh. “Alright everyone, clear the way.”

The crowd obeyed reluctantly, dispersing until only Fleet, Kai and Jay were left. Fleet walked up to Kai and grabbed his hand.

“The name’s Fleet.” he greeted. “And what might a stunning person like you call yourself?”

Kai pulled his hand away. “We already know who you are, Fleet.” he said. “We came here to take you home.”

“Oh, moving a little fast, aren’t we?” Fleet asked.

“What? No, not like that!” Kai yelled. “That’s really weird!”

“Kai he’s starting to freak me out a little bit.” Jay whispered.

“Oh, who’s your little friend?” Fleet asked. “He’s quite the cutie, isn’t he?”

“I don’t like this.” Jay responded.

“Listen, Fleet. We need you to come with us to the monastery, because if you don’t, you’ll disappear forever.” Kai informed.

“Oh dear, that does sound like quite the predicament, doesn’t it?” Fleet responded. “But sadly, I can’t just leave all the beautiful people here. Not when they all still want a piece of the Fleet.”

“Fleet, you have a boyfriend!” Kai yelled.

“Ha ha ha!” Fleet laughed. “That’s a funny one. Me? Having a boyfriend? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“What do you mean?” Jay asked.

“Ha ha, I can’t just settle down with someone.” Fleet explained. “Not when there’s an entire world of people for me.”

“Oh please, that’s not true!” Jay argued. “You and Techtonic are so cute together! You two belong together!”

“Who’s Techtonic?” Fleet asked. “He sounds cute.”

“Do you just say that about everyone?” Kai questioned.

Fleet shrugged. “I guess it just depends. Let me ask a quick question.” he said. “Is this ‘Techtonic’ person single?”

“No, he’s your boyfriend!” Kai yelled. “We just explained this!”

“Alright, alright, whatever.” Fleet shrugged them off. “If you guys aren’t interested, you can just say so.”

“No, we are NOT interested because you’re our fusion!” Kai explained. “And the fact that you're flirting with us is really weird.”

“That’s a pretty weird compliment,” Fleet said. “But thank you.”

“Jay, why are our fusions so annoying to deal with?” Kai asked.

“I know, right!” Jay agreed. “They just won’t listen to us!”

“This has been fun,” Fleet interrupted them, “But I think I’m gonna go mingle with the rest of the cuties here.”

“Fleet, wait!” Jay called after him, but he just kept walking away. “Ugh! How can we get him to listen!”

“If we can get his memories back, then he’ll listen.” Kai reminded.

“Yeah, but we still don’t know how to do that.” Jay argued. “It just kinda seemed to happen with Ridge and Swift.”

“I think the main problem with Fleet is that his ego is too big to listen to anyone.” Kai suggested.

“Gee, I wonder where he got that from.”

“Ok, shut up.” Kai replied angrily.

“Heh heh, sorry.” Jay apologized.

“Ok, back to the plan.” Kai said. “We need to knock him down a peg, and maybe then he’ll actually listen to us.”

“But how are we gonna do that?” Jay asked. “We’re no match for him, he’s got an army of fans swooning over him!”

“True, we can’t really do much,” Kai continued. “But I know someone who CAN compete with him.”

______________________________________________

“Isn’t that Cole’s cake?” Swift asked as he waited in the kitchen with Ridge.

“Well yeah, but I’m half Cole.” Ridge defended.

“You know he’s gonna get mad if you eat it.”

“Psh, I’ll just blame it on someone else.”

“Uh huh, and who else here would actually eat Cole’s cake?” Swift questioned. “Everyone else knows not to eat Cole’s cake or else they’ll have to deal with his fury.”

“Well I could always just blame it on Techtonic or Vulcan when they find them.” Ridge objected. He used a fork to grab a big chunk of the chocolate cake before stuffing it into his mouth.

Swift rolled his eyes. “Whatever, dude.”

“Did you just call me ‘dude’?” Ridge asked, his mouth still full of cake. “You're not reverting back to your bench persona, are you?”

“Calm down,” Swift said, beginning to leave the room. “I’m normal Swift, not delusional, bench Swift.”

Swift walked into the living room and saw Nya talking on her communicator.

“Alright, I’ll get him.” she said before hanging up. She turned to Swift. “Swift, perfect timing! Kai and Jay need your help at the skatepark.”

“Hmm? I thought I was supposed to stay here in case something bad happened.”

“They said it’ll be fine.” Nya assured. “And they also said to maybe change out of your ninja gi.”

“Uh, alright then…”

______________________________________________

Kai and Jay were sitting on some stairs, waiting for Swift to show up.

“Are you sure this is gonna work?” Jay asked.

“Oh, it’ll work.” Kai assured. 

The two of them continued waiting until they heard the sound of a motorcycle approaching. They looked down the street and saw Swift riding up to the park. The two of them smiled as they saw him approaching. However, much to their surprise, Swift wasn’t slowing down. He rode up towards Kai and Jay before jumping his bike over the stairs. 

“WHAH!” Jay screamed as Swift jumped over the two of them.

Everyone in the park quickly turned their attention towards Swift. He continued riding his bike towards the halfpipe. He quickly turned the bike as he got onto the halfpipe, launching up the side of it before quickly pulling out his hand and shooting a path of ice for his bike. He rode down to the ground, flames coming off of his bike to melt the ice behind him. He skidded the bike to a halt before stepping off and flipping his hair. He looked at Kai and Jay who were watching him in shock.

“What? Nya told me you wanted a spectacle.” he said. “I figured, why not make an entrance?”

“Oh my God, Swift!” one of the girls standing next to Fleet cheered.

“Is that really him?” another girl asked.

“Uh, who is that?” Fleet asked.

“Are you kidding me?” one of the girls asked. “That’s Swift! He’s so cool.”

“And dreamy.” the other girl added.

“What?” Before Fleet could do anything else, everyone started running over to Swift.

“Please, one at a time,” Swift said as the crowd started swarming him.

“Oh yeah, this is gonna work.” Kai nodded.

“Swift, what are you doing here?” one girl asked.

“I just came to see what the commotion was all about,” Swift explained. “I heard you guys were swooning over someone amazing, but I don’t see anyone.” Swift turned towards Fleet, looking him in the eyes with a slightly smug look. Fleet returned his stare with a confused, somewhat hurt look.

“Oh, we were spending time with Fleet.” a girl explained. “But now you’re here!”

“Swift! Can you freeze me?” 

“Yeah, can you burn my jacket?”

“Calm down, ladies.” Swift continued working his magic. He turned to the girl who wanted him to freeze her. “Why would I ever want to make you cold?”

“Oh no, it’s fine, you wouldn’t make me cold, I’m already a little cold already,” the girl rambled, her face slightly red.

“Oh, we can’t have that.” Swift continued. Before the girl could say anything, Swift removed his sweatshirt, revealing a tank top underneath. The girl’s face turned completely red as she noticed his lean, but strong looking body. He quickly wrapped the sweatshirt around the girl like a small blanket. “There, better?”

“I-” the girl was at a complete loss for words.

Fleet continued standing to the side, watching the group of people who were just adoring him a couple of seconds ago suddenly swoon over this newcomer. “What… why do they suddenly not care about me?” he asked quietly.

“Well now, Fleet,” Kai said as he and Jay walked up to the fusion. “Looks like people have lost interest in you.”

“I don’t get it!” Fleet yelled. “What did I do wrong?”

“Maybe it’s not what you did wrong,” Jay suggested, “But what he’s doing right.”

“But why do they care about him so much!?” Fleet asked. Fleet continued watching Swift, sadness in his eyes. “Why does this feel so familiar?”

Fleet’s mind became overwhelmed with strange images. He wanted nothing but to be adored by others, but no one cared about him. Everyone was talking about  _ him.  _ Fleet shook his head. Who was this him? Why did everyone love him so much? Fleet shook his head once more.

“Why doesn’t anyone care about me!?” Fleet cried.

“We care about you, Fleet.” Jay assured. “That’s why we want you to come back with us, so we can save you.”

“Oh, you just want to save me because you can’t think I can do it!?” Fleet retaliated.

“What? No!” Jay replied. “We know you’re fully capable of taking care of yourself.”

“Yeah,” Kai agreed. “You’ve done a lot of great things Fleet, even if you don’t actually remember what those things were.”

“But… if no one cares, then what’s the point?” Fleet asked.

“So what?” Kai asked. “You can’t just give up because other people don’t believe in you.”

Fleet blinked. “I can’t give up?” he repeated. His head suddenly became swarmed with strange memories. He felt a rush of energy flow through his body. He saw himself running somewhere, worried about whether or not he could succeed. Suddenly, all of his doubts disappeared as he burst into light. “I just need to try my best…” Fleet said as his body started glowing. “All that matters is I believe in myself! I can’t let everyone else make me feel useless when I’ve already proven them wrong!” Finally, Fleet’s body changed back to normal, his casual outfit changing into his ninja gi.

“We did it!” Jay cheered. “We got Fleet back!”

“Heck yeah!” Fleet yelled. “I’m back!” He paused for a moment. “Holy crap, Kai and Jay!? What the heck are you guys doing here!?”

Swift looked over as he saw Fleet talking to Kai and Jay. “Alright, my work here is done.” he said. He quickly grabbed his sweatshirt away from the random girl and started walking away.

“Wait, no, come back!” the girl cried after the fusion.

“I should’ve guessed Vena was behind this.” Fleet grumbled. “I always knew we couldn’t trust her!”

“I mean it  _ was  _ an accident.” Jay replied.

“An accident  _ you  _ caused.” Kai reminded.

“Ok, yeah, we can drop that now.” Jay responded.

“Alright, you guys got Fleet back.” Swift said.

“Oh, hey Swift.” Fleet greeted casually. “Wait, Swift!? Ok, this is gonna take some getting used to…”

“Ok, we need to get back to the monastery.” Kai informed. “Hopefully Cole and Zane found Techtonic, then we can-”

Fleet interrupted Kai with a loud gasp. “TECHTONIC!” he yelled. “We have to go find him! His memories are probably gone too, we need to get him back!”

“Woah, calm down, Fleet.” Jay said. “Cole and Zane have this handled. We need to get you and Swift back to the monastery to keep you safe.”

“But, Techtonic-”   
“He’ll be fine.” Kai assured. “Now c’mon, let’s go already!”

****  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It may be a while until I'm able to work on this fic again. I do have the next chapter written at this point, but I'm not sure when I'll get around to writing more chapters. I have a lot of school work to work on, so yeah...


	5. Empty Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cole and Zane go to find Techtonic and end up getting some unwanted but much needed help.

Cole and Zane were both standing outside of the library. They heard from some other people that they saw Techtonic here earlier.

“I wonder why Techtonic would be here?” Cole said as they started walking inside. “He’s never really been the reading type.”

“There is more to do at a library than read,” Zane replied. “He could be here for a number of reasons.”

The two of them looked around at all of the tables in the library, but they didn’t see Techtonic anywhere. 

“Are you sure he’s here?” Cole whispered.

“He should be.” Zane replied. He walked up to a table with a group of teenage girls. “Excuse me, have any of you seen Techtonic anywhere?”

“Well, uh,” one girl replied. “How would Techtonic be here if you two aren’t fused?”

“It’s a long story,” Cole explained. “But have you seen him?”

“I think I saw someone who kinda looked like Techtonic go to the back of the library,” another girl said. “But I’m not sure if it was actually him or not.”

“We’ll go check it out.” Zane responded. “Thank you for the help.”

The girls smiled at the two ninja before going back to reading their books. Cole and Zane made their way towards the back of the library like the girls suggested. Not many people went back here since it was so out of the way, but hopefully that would make it easier to find Techtonic if he was there. Eventually, they reached the area they were looking for. There were only a couple of tables, and most of them were empty except for one of them.

“There he is!” Cole pointed.

Techtonic was sitting alone at the table, wearing a pair of headphones, and staring out the window. He seemed to have his normal, monotone expression which made Cole and Zane hopeful.

“This might actually be easy!” Cole suggested.

“Come on, let’s go talk to him.” Zane said. 

The two of them walked up to the table. Techtonic glanced over at the two of them, his eyes narrowing as they got closer.

“Hey, Techtonic.” Cole greeted.

“Uuugh!” Techtonic groaned before pulling out his phone, pausing his music, and taking his headphones off. “What do you want?” he asked with an annoyed tone.

Cole and Zane were taken aback by his attitude. 

“You know, we should really be getting used to them acting different, huh?” Cole said. “Alright, whatever. Hey Techtonic, can we talk to you?”

“Hmph. You can talk,” Techtonic replied, attempting to flip his hair out of his face. “But I probably won’t listen.”

“Uh… ok then.” Cole said. “We need you to come with us, it’s important.”

“Tch. Nothing is important in life. People just think things are important because they think their life has some sort of worth to it. But in the end, we’re all going to die and no one will remember us. Our lives are just a pointless path until death finally decides to claim us all.”

Cole and Zane both stared at Techtonic, unable to think of a proper response. They both awkwardly looked at each other before looking back at Techtonic.

“So, will you come with us?” Cole asked.

“Psh.” Techtonic replied, flipping his hair again. “Why would I want to follow a couple of lame ninja cosplayers?”

“I’m sorry, what?” Cole questioned.

“If you’re going to cosplay in public, at least choose someone worth cosplaying.” Techtonic said. “Now go away, your presence is making me annoyed.”

“Uhh…” Cole responded, unsure of what to say.

“Come on, Cole.” Zane whispered. “We can think of another plan.”

“Alright.” Cole agreed.

Cole and Zane walked over to sit at another table, somewhat close to Techtonic so they could keep an eye on him.

“Alright, what’s the plan?” Cole asked.

“It seems like Techtonic has lost the ability to care about anything.” Zane explained. “Getting him to agree to come with us will be difficult… Perhaps if we can get on his good side, we can convince him to come with us.”

“Hey, that sounds like a pretty good idea!” Cole agreed. “But, how are we gonna get on his good side if he doesn’t care about anything?”

Zane thought for a moment, looking over at Techtonic. He noticed the fusion beginning to pull something out of a bag he had next to him. He pulled out a piece of paper that seemed to have something drawn on it along with a pencil and placed them on the table.

“That’s it!” Zane realized.

“What?” Cole asked.

“It looks like he’s about to start drawing. One way to get on the good side of someone is by complimenting their creations.”

“Are you sure?” Cole asked. “He might not like you looking at his art.”

“We don’t have much else to work off of.” Zane replied. “We’ll just have to try it.”

The two of them got up and started walking over towards Techtonic again. His expression became more annoyed as the two approached him, but he didn’t take his eyes off of his paper.

“Hello, Techtonic.” Zane greeted again.

“I thought I told you two to leave me alone.” Techtonic responded.

“Well, I just so happened to notice you started drawing.” Zane replied. “I was curious about what you were drawing.”

“Ugh!” Techtonic groaned again. “It’s my oc, Death Galaxus Star Burner.” He held up the drawing which showed a guy with large wings that were ripped near the bottom. His black hair covered half of his face, much like Techtonic’s hair, except the drawing’s hair was much messier, and the bangs were dyed blue and red. He wore a white sweatshirt and jeans that were ripped at the knees. His eyes were also a vibrant red color. “Most people just call him Death,” Techtonic continued. “Because that’s how I feel inside.” Techtonic flipped his hair once more.

“Oh… uh…” Zane replied awkwardly. “Well, I mean, as long as you aren’t harming anyone, express yourself however-”

Zane was cut off as Techtonic pulled out a knife from his bag. Zane froze as he saw the knife, his eyes going wide.

“Why… why do you have a knife?” he asked.

“I need to sharpen my pencil.” Techtonic replied. “Duh.”

“Well, uh, there’s a pencil sharpener over-” Zane was cut off again as Techtonic stabbed the knife into the table. Zane looked down at the knife, concern in his eyes. “Techtonic, you do realize this table belongs to the library, right?” he asked. “You probably shouldn’t stab it.”

Techtonic just glared silently at the nindroid, making it clear he didn’t care about the library’s property.

“Zane, maybe don’t try to provoke the guy with the knife.” Cole suggested.

“But where did he even get the knife?” Zane asked.

“Look, I don't know, but we can't focus on that.” Cole replied. "We need to get him back to the monastery."

Techtonic started to ignore the two of them, going back to working on his drawing of Death Galaxus Star Burner.

“Alright Techtonic, let’s go.” Cole demanded.

“You can’t tell me what to do.” Techtonic argued.

Cole paused for a moment. “Well, he got me there. C’mon, Zane, let’s go think of another plan.”

_____________________________________________

The other ninja were just arriving back at the monastery and noticed Cole and Zane still weren’t back. 

“Huh, guess they haven’t found Techtonic yet.” Jay pointed out.

“What do you mean they haven’t found Techtonic yet!?” Fleet asked.

“Well clearly since Cole and Zane aren’t back, they haven’t found him yet.” Kai replied.

“Well technically, they might’ve found him, they just haven’t gotten him back yet.” Swift retorted.

“No one asked you, Swift!” Kai said angrily, clearly getting annoyed with having to deal with his fusions. “Now, let’s all just wait here until they get back.”

“Hey, you guys are back!” Ridge cheered as he saw the others arrive. “And you got Fleet back, too!”

“Yep!” Jay replied. “Kai and I are gonna go let Lloyd and Nya know we're back. We’ll be right back, so just stay here. And make sure Fleet doesn’t leave.”

“You got it!” Ridge assured.

Ridge, Swift and Fleet watched as Kai and Jay left to go into the other room. Fleet had his arms crossed and was giving a scowl to the ground. 

“This isn’t fair!” he yelled. “I should be able to go help Cole and Zane with Techtonic!”

“We have to stay here, Fleet.” Ridge ordered. He looked away as he continued talking to Fleet. “It’s too dangerous to go out on your own and-” Ridge stopped as he noticed Fleet was gone. “Swift! Where did Fleet go!?”

“He left.” Swift replied simply.

“Swift, we were supposed to watch him!”

“I did watch him,” Swift replied. “I watched him leave.”

“Jay and Kai are going to kill us.”

As soon as Ridge said something, he heard the door behind him open. “We’re back!” Jay announced.

“NOTHING'S WRONG!” Ridge yelled in a panic.

Jay stared up at Ridge for a moment. “Fleet left, didn’t he?”

“Ha ha, no.” Ridge lied. He leaned towards Swift. “He knows me too well.” he whispered.

_____________________________________________

Cole and Zane continued watching Techtonic, trying to think of a plan. 

“Alright Zane,” Cole said. “We can’t get him to listen to anything we say. If we can get his memories back, then we can get him to listen, but we don’t know how to do that.”

“Wow, he’s so hot.”

“Zane, that’s kinda weird to say about our fusion.” Cole replied.

“I didn’t say that.” Zane responded.

“Hey guys!” Cole and Zane turned to see Fleet standing next to them.

“Fleet!? What are you doing here!?” Cole asked angrily.

“I came to help with Techtonic, duh.” Fleet replied.

“No, you need to go back to the monastery.” Cole ordered.

“Actually, Fleet might be useful.” Zane pointed out. “After all, Techtonic cares about him more than anything. Maybe Fleet is what will get him to start caring about something.”

“Alright, fine.” Cole agreed.

“Ha ha, suck it Cole!” Fleet laughed.

“Well, we still need to come up with a plan.” Cole continued.

“Don’t worry guys, I’ve got this.” Fleet assured. “I’m sure after Techtonic takes one look at me, he’ll remember who he is.”

“Uh, Fleet, I’m not sure about that.” Zane tried to stop him, but Fleet wouldn’t listen.

“No time to discuss! My boyfriend needs me!” Fleet replied, walking over to Techtonic.

Techtonic sat silently, staring out the window with an irritated look on his face.

“Hey.” Fleet said, interrupting Techtonic from his thoughts.

He looked over at Fleet who was resting his head in his hand confidently as he leaned on the table, his other hand placed on his hip.

“Do I know you?” Techtonic asked rudely.

Fleet went quiet, giving Techtonic a blank stare. “Ok, that hurt a little bit.” Fleet admitted with a sad expression.

“Tch. Whatever.” Techtonic replied. “Are you gonna ask me a stupid question, or are you gonna leave me alone?”

“What happened to you?” Fleet asked.

“What happened is I stopped being blind to the darkness. I accepted the darkness into my life, into my soul.”

“You’re not the Techtonic I know!” Fleet yelled.

“Would you just scram already?” Techtonic asked.

“You can’t make me!”

Techtonic pulled out a pencil before easily snapping it in two, giving Fleet a death glare. Fleet stared up at him in fear. “Ok, I’ll leave.” Fleet replied with a shaky voice. He walked back to Cole and Zane with shame.

“Ok, that was a stupid plan.” Cole said. “We need to come up with an actual plan.”

“Maybe,” Fleet thought. “The power of true love’s kiss will cure him!”

“Fleet, no! That’s a terrible idea!” Cole argued.

“C’mon, magic caused this, love will fix it! Haven’t you ever read a fairy tale?”

“Fairy tales aren’t real, Fleet!”

“You’re just a non-believer, Cole!” Fleet disagreed, walking back over to Techtonic.

Techtonic let out a groan as he saw Fleet approaching.

“Hello, again.” Fleet greeted.

“Ok, seriously, what do you want?” Techtonic demanded.

“I want you to remember.” Fleet replied, grabbing Techtonic’s face. Techtonic looked at him confused, but before he could do anything, Fleet pulled him closer, locking lips with him. Cole and Zane just watched on in disbelief.

“This is… strange to watch.” Zane said.

“Yeah.” Cole agreed.

Finally, Fleet released Techtonic, looking up at him with hopeful eyes. “See, the memories are flooding back, right?”

Techtonic promptly smacked Fleet across the face, creating an audible SMACK sound.

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?” Techtonic yelled.

“Uhh…” Fleet replied, holding his cheek. “I’m madly in love with you?”

Techtonic gave Fleet a confused look. “Wait, hold on. Are you with those weird ninja cosplayers who’ve been watching me for the past hour?” he asked, pointing at Cole and Zane.

Fleet looked back at Cole and Zane before turning back to Techtonic. “No?”

“You’re literally wearing a ninja outfit.”

“What? No, these are my pajamas!” Fleet looked up at Techtonic, attempting to keep his cool. Techtonic just glared down at Fleet.

“Get out of my sight.” he ordered with a threatening voice.

“No, please! You have to come with us!” Fleet begged.

“Why?”

“Because if you don’t, we’ll- ACK!” Fleet was cut off as his body began to glitch, knocking him to the ground. Techtonic just stood still, staring at Fleet while his body glitched out as well. Fleet attempted to catch his breath as the glitching stopped before looking up at Techtonic again. “How did that not hurt you at all!?”

“The pain I feel inside is much worse than any physical pain I feel.”

“Fleet! Are you ok?” Cole asked as he and Zane ran over to him. 

“Yeah… I’m fine…” Fleet replied, standing back up. “BUT TECHTONIC IS NOT FINE!”

“Listen, if you don’t stop bothering me,” Techtonic warned. “You’ll be in for a lot of pain.”

“Well if you don’t listen to me then-”

“Alright, Fleet, let’s go.” Cole interrupted.

“What? No!” Fleet argued, but before he could try to do anything, Cole picked him up, carrying him over his shoulder.

“We need to go rethink our strategy.” Cole said.

“PUT ME DOWN!” Fleet yelled, kicking his legs.

“We might want to leave the library before Fleet gets us in trouble…” Zane suggested.

“Alright, let’s go then.” Cole agreed.

“Ugh, finally.” Techtonic commented.

“No! I was so close to saving him!” Fleet continued yelling as Cole carried him outside.

“No, you were close to getting yourself beat up.” Cole retorted. He finally put Fleet down when they got outside.

“This is so stupid.” Fleet complained. “Are you guys sure that’s actually Techtonic and not an evil clone?”

“Perhaps we should go talk to Vena.” Zane suggested. “She might have figured out how to get the fusions’ memories back.”

“What!? No way!” Fleet objected. “I don’t trust her.”

“Fleet, this could be our only chance to get Techtonic back.” Cole replied. “Without Vena’s help, we could lose him forever!”

“Ugh, fine!” Fleet agreed begrudgingly. “Let’s go ask Vena for help.”

_____________________________________________

Vena was in her cave, reading through her spell book. She was interrupted as she heard someone enter her cave.

“Vena!” Cole called.

“Oh, hey guys.” Vena greeted as she saw Cole and Zane.

“Vena, we need your help.” Cole said.

“You mean with your fusions?” Vena asked. “Have you guys at least made any progress?”

“VENA!”

“Oh great.” Vena said sarcastically as Fleet’s kusarigama flew passed her. The rope wrapped around her body, trapping her. “I see you guys got Fleet back.” she replied. “I was kinda hoping you guys forgot about him.”

“Shut up!” Fleet yelled.

“Fleet, let her go.” Cole ordered.

“Fine.” Fleet replied, his kusarigama disappearing.

“Alright,” Vena continued. “Who do you guys need-”

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO TECHTONIC!?” Fleet demanded, cutting her off.

“Fleet! Chill!” Cole yelled at the fusion. “But yeah, we need help with Techtonic.”

“We haven’t been able to figure out how to get his memories back.” Zane added.

“Well, I’ve been trying to figure it out,” Vena explained. “And it seems the way you get back their memories is by reminding the fusion of a significant memory. The only problem is figuring out which memory.”

“Oooh, that makes a lot of sense now.” Fleet replied. “But also, how are we supposed to find a significant memory for Techtonic!? He never reacts to anything, how could he have a significant memory for him to remember?”

“What if he sees you two in a fight?” Zane suggested.

“Zane, you’re a genius!” Cole replied.

“WHAT!?” Fleet asked, concern and fear on his face. “No way! What if she tries to kill me!?”

“Relax, shorty, I won’t try anything.” Vena assured. “Although, seeing you on the brink of death could bring his memories back…”

“Guys!” Fleet begged.

“Vena, no killing or almost killing Fleet.” Cole ordered.

“Relax, I’m just joking.” Vena replied. “Well, mostly.”

“And you guys wonder why I don’t like her.” Fleet said.

“Ok, enough arguing.” Zane said. “Here’s the plan. Fleet and Vena will go into the city and stage a fight while Cole and I go get Techtonic.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Cole replied.

“Let’s do it.” Vena agreed.

Vena and Fleet found an open area in the city where hopefully, there wouldn’t be too much damage. They wanted the fight to look real, but they didn’t want to completely destroy the entire city either. The two of them were waiting for Cole and Zane to get back with Techtonic.

“Alright, Vena, remember, don’t ACTUALLY try to kill me.” Fleet reminded.

“I’m not gonna try to kill you, alright?” Vena replied. “Plus, if I did try to kill you, Techtonic would murder me.”

“Why does your reason have to be, ‘Techtonic will murder me’, why can’t it just be attempted murder is wrong?” Fleet asked.

“Ok, enough arguing if murder is ok or not, where’s Techtonic?”

Zane and Cole were back at the library, attempting to get Techtonic to come with them.

“C’mon!” Cole grunted as he attempted to pull Techtonic out of the chair, Zane pushing from the other side. “We have to go!”

“What’s the deal with you two?” Techtonic asked angrily. “I don’t even know you guys, but you’ve been annoying me all day for NO REASON! Why don't you just get lost already!?”

“Ok, that’s it!” Cole yelled, punching his arms together, turning them into his lava arms.

“What the?” Techtonic questioned.

“YOU’RE COMING WITH US!” Cole yelled, picking up Techtonic with ease.

“We’re sorry, Techtonic.” Zane tried to apologize.

“Oh, shut up.” Techtonic replied, crossing his arms.

Vena and Fleet continued standing around, waiting for the others to arrive. Vena stood with her arms crossed while Fleet tapped his foot, frustrated.

“What’s taking them so long!?” Fleet yelled.

“We’re back!” Cole announced before setting Techtonic on the ground, making sure he was sitting down. “Now, you’re gonna sit here and watch these two fight!” 

“You can’t make me.” Techtonic retorted, pulling out his phone.

Cole quickly grabbed Techtonic’s phone and threw it on the ground, showing that he wasn’t messing around.

“Uuugh! Fine!” Techtonic groaned. “But there better be actual bloodshed or else I’m gonna get bored really quickly.” He turned to look at Fleet and Vena. “Also the annoying short one better lose.”

“Hey!” Fleet yelled. 

Vena started laughing at Techtonic’s comment. “Are you sure we can’t keep him like this?” she joked.

“Ok, let’s just get to the fight already.” Fleet replied. Fleet summoned his kusarigama. “Prepare to taste defeat!” he taunted.

“Please, you’re no match for me.” Vena shot back while she summoned a sword.

Fleet quickly shot a fiery blast at Vena who blocked it with her sword. Vena quickly began to cast a spell. She started to create a large crystal from the ground. Fleet quickly shot at it with lighting. Bits of the crystal broke off, leaving a large piece at the top held up by a sliver of crystal beneath. Fleet and Vena both looked up at it.

“Is it safe to just leave that there?” Fleet asked.

“I don’t know.” Vena replied with a shrug.

“Psh. This is so fake.” Techtonic called out. “A real battle wouldn’t have the two fighters asking if something is ‘safe’.”

“How would you know what an actual battle is like?” Cole asked.

“Hmph. I’m not an idiot.” Techtonic replied. “I watch a lot of shows. I know what I’m talking about.” He quickly flipped his hair. “Can I leave now?”

“No! You need to watch the fight!” Cole demanded.

“Cole, I don’t think this is working…” Zane said.

“What are you even talking about?” Techtonic asked. “God, you cosplayers make no sense to me.”

“First of all, why wouldn’t you want to watch a fight?” Cole asked. “Everyone likes watching people fight!”

“Please. I don’t care about random fights like this.” Techtonic replied. “I don’t even care about these two idiots thinking they know how to choreograph a good looking fight scene.”

“Who are you calling an idiot!?” Vena yelled.

“Well you at least seem more capable than shorty over there.” Techtonic replied.

Fleet felt tiny sparks fly off of his body as he started getting angrier. He stared at Techtonic, anger beginning to build up.

“Techtonic, please,” Zane tried to reason with him. “Don’t you remember anything?”

“Listen, I don’t know what-”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?” Fleet snapped, interrupting Techtonic. Techtonic quickly looked over at Fleet who had a blazing blue inferno behind him. “You SERIOUSLY don’t remember ANYTHING!?” Fleet yelled. “You don’t even remember VENA!? SHE TRIED TO KILL US!”

“Actually, she only tried to kill you.” Zane corrected.

“SHUT UP, ZANE!” Fleet shouted. Techtonic looked up at Fleet with a confused look as he continued ranting. “I am getting REALLY ANNOYED with your attitude! Because I thought the REAL you actually CARED about me!”   
Techtonic’s eyes widened. He felt something begin to come back to him. He could hear Fleet yelling at him for something he had done. Something that hurt him. “You just HATE taking me seriously, don’t you?” he heard his voice say. 

Suddenly, everything went black until Techtonic saw Fleet on the ground, passed out. He was holding his body, panicking. He then saw Vena again. He saw himself standing up to her. “I care about Fleet more than ANYTHING!” he yelled.

Techtonic blinked a couple of times before looking up at Fleet again. “Fleet?” he asked.

“Yes, good job, you know my name.” Fleet complimented insincerely. “But that’s not important!” he began ranting again. “Because what’s the point of you knowing my name if YOU WON’T LISTEN TO ME!? YOU WON’T LISTEN TO ANYONE!” 

Vena watched Fleet ranting with a disinterested look on her face. She glanced up at the large crystal and noticed the sliver holding it up began to crack, ready to fall right on top of Fleet.

“Fleet! Watch out!” Vena warned.

“Stay out of this, Vena!” Fleet yelled. Fleet heard a small crack noise and looked up at the rock crystal above him. “Uh oh.” he said quietly. It finally cracked all the way, beginning to fall towards Fleet. “AAAH!” Fleet screamed, covering his head. “Huh?” Fleet questioned when he realized he wasn’t being crushed. He looked up and saw Techtonic, struggling to hold the large crystal up. “Techtonic!?” he asked. “What are you doing!?”

“Saving you, idiot!” Techtonic yelled, still struggling to hold the massive crystal.

“But… I thought you didn’t care about me.” Fleet replied. “I thought you didn’t care about anything.”

“Of course I care about you Fleet,” Techtonic replied. He gave Fleet a soft smile which surprised him. Techtonic’s body suddenly began to glow. “I… I care about you more than anything else!” Techtonic lifted the crystal into the air before throwing it to the side. The light surrounding his body faded as he turned back to normal, his skin becoming titanium and his outfit changing to his ninja gi. He turned to Fleet. “Hey.”

“Techtonic!” Fleet cheered. “Do… do you have your memories back?”

“Yeah.” Techtonic replied, his tone completely emotionless.

“Oh thank God!” Fleet replied, wrapping his arms around Techtonic. “I was so scared you’d be gone forever! And I’m not sure what brought your memories back, but that doesn’t matter ‘cause you’re back!”

Techtonic looked down at Fleet, smiling at him and rubbing the top of his head. He then looked up towards Cole and Zane who both waved at him awkwardly.

“Wait a minute…” Techtonic said, squinting at his components. “How are Cole and Zane here if I’m here?” Fleet looked up at Techtonic releasing him from the hug. “Fleet, what’s going on?” Techtonic asked.

“Yeah, Vena!” Fleet replied, glaring at the half-snake.

“Fleet, I will slap you!” Vena warned.

“Actually, Techtonic already slapped Fleet.” Zane informed.

“Zane!” Fleet yelled.

“Wait, really?” Vena asked, turning to Techtonic. “You SLAPPED him!? HA HA HA! I can’t believe I missed that!”

“Well he WAS being annoying.” Techtonic defended.

“Techtonic!” Fleet replied. “I was just trying to get your memories back.” He turned around angrily, crossing his arms.

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” Techtonic apologized before leaning over to give Fleet a kiss on the cheek. Fleet’s face instantly turned bright red. “Ok, let’s go to the monastery and you guys can explain what’s going on.” Techtonic said, beginning to walk away.

“Techtonic,” Cole stopped him. “I think you broke Fleet.” Fleet was standing, completely frozen, his face still extremely red.

“Oops.” Techtonic replied. He quickly scooped up Fleet in his arms.

“Ack!” Fleet replied awkwardly.

“Ok, now we can go.” Techtonic replied, Fleet covering his face in embarrassment.

“Ugh! Techtonic!” Fleet mumbled.

“Are you ok?” Techtonic asked.

Fleet looked up at the other fusion, a smile on his face. “It’s good to have you back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the reason I made Techtonic be at the library is because when I was in middle school, all the emo edgy kids went to go hang out at the library after school so I thought it would be fitting.  
> Also I wrote out an entire backstory for Death Galaxus Star Burner that I might post on my tumblr. If you couldn't tell, I had a lot of fun writing Techtonic. There probably won't be too many chapters left of this, which makes sense because it is supposed to be like a mini-series/story. Hopefully you guys enjoy the rest of this when I finish it


	6. Brawling and Bawling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With only two more fusions left two find, the ninja split up once more to find Chip and Vulcan but end up coming across some troubles on the way.

“Wow, you guys have been making good progress,” Vena commented when they all arrived at the monastery. “You guys just need Chip and Vulcan and then you’ll have everyone.”

“Yeah,” Kai agreed. “And we should probably get going. We can’t waste any time.”   
“Are you guys gonna need anymore help?” Vena asked.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Cole assured. 

“Yeah, you should probably stay here and make sure no one goes anywhere.” Jay said, glaring at Fleet.

“Hey, now that Techtonic’s back, you don’t need to worry about me wandering off.” Fleet replied, holding Techtonic's arm.

“Well I’d better stay here anyway.” Vena replied. “It’ll make it easier if I can cast the counterspell with everyone here.”

“Alright, but before we go,” Kai said. He turned to the fusions. “Have any of you guys seen Chip or Vulcan? Maybe give us a hint to where they might be?”

“Nope.” Ridge replied.

“I’m pretty sure none of us left the places you found us,” Techtonic added.

“Well at least you can rule out the places you found us.” Fleet pointed out.

Kai let out a sigh. “Yeah, I guess. Alright guys, let’s head out. We don’t know how long this is gonna take so we’d better get moving.”

_____________________________________________

The four of them split up again with Kai and Cole searching for Vulcan while Zane and Jay went to find Chip.

“Huh, I figured Chip would be the one at the library, not Techtonic.” Jay commented as they walked down the street.

“I guess that would make more sense.” Zane replied. “But we know he isn’t there, so we should search elsewhere.”

“Good idea.”

The two of them continued brainstorming ideas as to where Chip would be. The difficult part was how inconsistent the locations they found their other fusions at were. Ridge seemed to be the only one that made sense for him, but the rest of them had seemingly nothing to do with their normal personalities. The two of them kept wandering around until Jay noticed something. He saw someone on the other side of the road walking on the sidewalk. Jay squinted at them to get a better look before gasping.

“Zane! I think that’s Chip over there!” Jay pointed out.

Zane looked over at the person Jay was pointing to. “I believe you’re correct, Jay.” he replied. “Let’s go get him.”

The two of them started running towards Chip. The fusion was staring at the ground with a nervous expression as he walked. He was also fidgeting with his hands.

“Hey!” Jay yelled to get his attention. Chip jumped before turning around to see the two ninja running after him.

“AHH!” Chip screamed before starting to run away.

“What? Where is he going?” Jay asked.

“Not sure.” Zane replied. “But we can’t let him get away.”

Jay and Zane continued chasing down Chip. Chip was a lot faster than they remembered, easily being able to outrun them. He turned back to the two of them, his eyes full of fear. He quickly shot out a pitiful ice blast at the ground to try and stop them. But Jay and Zane easily jumped over the tiny patch of ice.

“WHAH!” Chip screamed again before speeding up.

Chip looked around frantically before deciding to turn the corner, attempting to escape. However, as he turned the corner, he realized it was a dead end. He skidded to a halt before turning around to see Jay and Zane blocking the exit. Chip backed up slightly against the wall.

“Ha! We’ve got you cornered now!” Jay taunted. “There’s nowhere for you to run!”

Chip whimpered slightly, tears forming in his eyes. “I’m sorry!” he cried before curling up into a ball, facing away from Jay and Zane. “Please don’t hurt me! I promise I won’t cause any more trouble!” he pleaded.

Jay and Zane watched Chip, confused. “Uhh…” Jay replied. “Is he ok?”

“Jay, I think you made him upset.” Zane replied.

“Oh come on Zane, he’s clearly faking it.” Jay said, walking over to Chip. “He fake cries all the time!”

“Uhh, I wouldn’t be too sure about that. Those tears seem genuine.”

“Zane, how can you let him fool you so easily?” Jay asked. “I thought you were supposed to be the smart-” Jay threw his arms into the air which caused Chip to scream again as he flinched away. “One?” Jay finished, turning towards Chip. Chip continued crying while cowering in fear, his entire body shaking as his tears fell to the ground. “Ok, maybe he isn’t faking it…” Jay realized. “Hey, Chip, it’s gonna be ok.” he tried to calm him down. “We’re not gonna hurt you.”

“Y-you mean you’re not gonna take me to the big meanie?” Chip asked.

“I’m sorry, the what now?” Jay questioned.

“The big meanie!” Chip repeated. “H-he threatened to beat me up when I accidentally ran into him!” Chip began to whimper again.

“Well that’s mean! Who would want to beat up someone so innocent and adorable?” Jay asked. “Like, who would be THAT rude!?”

Zane thought for a moment before coming to a realization. “I think I know who Chip is talking about.”

“Really? Who?” Jay asked.

Instead of responding, Zane quickly turned on his communicator, attempting to call Cole.

“Zane, you can’t just ignore my question like that.” Jay said.

“Hello?” Cole answered his communicator.

“Cole, have you guys found Vulcan?” Zane asked.

“Uhh, we  _ found  _ him,” Cole replied. “But we’re in a little- OH MY GOD KAI! WHAT HAPPENED!?”

Jay and Zane both froze as Cole suddenly started yelling.

“Oh geez, I think I’m gonna be sick.” Cole continued. “Oh, that looks really bad. You know what, I think it’s gonna be ok. OH FUCK HE GOT KAI’S SWORD!” Cole was abruptly cut off by a long BEEEEP sound.

“We have to go help them.” Zane said.

“Hold on, you still haven’t answered my question about who threatened to beat up Chip!” Jay argued. Zane just gave Jay a disappointed look. Jay paused for a moment. “Oooh, it’s Vulcan isn’t it?”

Zane let out a sigh. “Yes, it’s Vulcan.”

“Well yeah, we better go help them!” Jay replied. “Hey, Chip, you wanna come too?”

“No.” Chip replied quietly.

“Well too bad, we’re taking you anyway.” Jay said.

_____________________________________________

“YOU’RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!” Vulcan shouted.

“Kai, why would you ruin his burrito like that!?” Cole yelled. "That was a perfectly good burrito!"

“He wasn’t listening to us and I was getting really frustrated!” Kai defended himself.

The two of them actually found Vulcan pretty quickly. He was near the outskirts of the city. The instant he saw the two of them, he wanted to fight them. He recognized them as ninja and knew they would be more willing to fight than random citizens. The two of them tried to reason with him, but he didn’t want to hear any of it. Vulcan was actually acting relatively calm, until Kai smacked his burrito on the ground, which enraged the fusion.

“Can you at least give me back my sword?” Kai asked.

Vulcan glared at the red ninja before chucking the sword away. The sword went flying into the air. Kai watched it before turning back to Vulcan angrily. 

“Alright, it’s a fight you want? It’s a fight you’ll get!” Kai shouted, igniting his hands in flames.

“How about we fight fire with fire.” Vulcan replied with a smirk, readying a fireball.

“Kai, be careful.” Cole warned.

“I’ll be fine.” Kai assured, but before he could react, Vulcan ran up, punching him in the side and knocking him to the ground.

“Kai!” Cole shouted.

“You just gonna stand there and watch?” Vulcan taunted.

Cole quickly activated his lava arms, punching Vulcan in his side. Vulcan stumbled a little but wasn’t that badly hurt. He cracked his neck before smirking at Cole.

“I like how you fight.” he replied. “Now let’s see if you’re as wimpy as your friend.”

The two of them ran in to punch each other, blocking the other with their fists. Cole held up for a while, but was easily overpowered by Vulcan who knocked him back. Giving Cole no time to recover, Vulcan instantly grabbed his arm and threw him towards a nearby tree.

Vulcan let out a chuckle until he was interrupted.

“Kai! Cole!” Jay shouted. “What happened!?”

Vulcan turned around confused by the newcomer. “Who the hell are you?” he asked. He looked over and saw Chip poking his head out from behind Zane. As soon as they made eye contact, Chip made an EEP sound before hiding behind Zane, cowering. “You again?” Vulcan questioned. “I thought I told you to get lost!”

“Wait, what happened?” Kai questioned.

“Vulcan threatened to beat up Chip.” Zane explained.

“I thought you told me you weren’t gonna take me to the big meanie!” Chip said, panicked.

“It’ll be ok,” Zane assured. “Jay, you watch Chip while I help Cole and Kai fight Vulcan.”

“What? Why me?” Jay asked.

“I’m more durable than you are.” Zane explained, running off to join the fight.

“He’s gonna come beat me up! He’s gonna come beat me up!” Chip began to panic.

“Hey, hey, it’s ok.” Jay assured. “We just gotta, uhh… hide behind a rock!”

“O-ok.” Chip replied, seeming to calm down slightly.

The two of them quickly found a large rock to hide behind. Chip continued to whimper and cry, but at this point, Jay figured he would never stop whimpering or crying. Jay’s communicator started ringing which caused Chip to jump.

“Relax, I’m just getting a call.” Jay said before answering his communicator. “Hello?”

“Hey, Jay!” Ridge spoke. “How are you guys doing? Are you gonna be back soon? ‘Cause we- ACK!” Ridge started screaming. Jay looked at Chip who was starting to glitch out. He could also hear Vulcan scream in the distance. The glitching stopped and Jay turned his attention back to the communicator.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s just the glitching again.” Ridge replied nonchalantly. “But uh… are you guys gonna get back anytime soon?”

“I don’t know.” Jay replied. “We found Chip and Vulcan, but Chip keeps crying and Vulcan is busy fighting the others right now.”

“WHAT!?” Ridge yelled. “You guys are fighting Vulcan!?”

“We’ll be fine,” Jay assured. “But, uhh, I should probably check up on the others.”

“Wait, Jay-” but before he could say anything, Jay already hung up.

_____________________________________________

“So, how are they doing?” Swift asked before taking a drink from a soda.

“They’re fighting Vulcan.” Ridge explained.

Swift quickly spit out his drink. “They can’t fight Vulcan!” he yelled. “Are they crazy!?”

“Vulcan’s like, one of the strongest fusions!” Fleet added. “They’re gonna die!”

“We have to go help them!” Ridge said.

“But we’re supposed to stay here.” Techtonic responded.

“But if they die, then we die!” Fleet argued. “We’ll be able to take him on!”

“Vena, what do you think we should do?” Swift asked.

Vena was reading her spell book. She looked up at the fusions. “Fleet’s right for once.” she replied. “Vulcan’s too strong for them to take, even if it’s a four on one. The power from a fusion is too powerful for anyone to take on their own like that.”

“Will you come, too?” Techtonic asked.

“I can’t.” Vena replied. “I have to finish perfecting the counterspell. I don’t wanna mess you guys up even more.”

“We understand.” Ridge replied. “C’mon guys. Let’s go.”

_____________________________________________

Zane attempted to freeze Vulcan in place to try and stall for time, but Vulcan easily melted the ice with his fire before it even got close. Cole managed to get some strong punches in, but Vulcan always managed to counter his strength. Kai continued to try and hurt Vulcan with his fireballs, but they didn’t seem to do much. 

Cole ran up to attack Vulcan again, but Vulcan quickly dodged his attack and shot a rock from the ground, sending Cole flying. Cole smacked against the large rock Jay and Chip were hiding behind.

“Cole, are you ok?” Jay asked, poking his head out.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Cole replied, standing up. “I think… we’re starting to wear him out.” Cole watched as Kai and Zane continued attacking Vulcan, making almost no progress. “Just uh… very slowly.” Cole continued.

Finally, Vulcan launched Kai and Zane away, both of them heading towards Cole. They both crashed into Cole and knocked him down. Chip poked his head out from the side of the rock.

“A-are you guys ok?” he asked softly.

“We’ll be fine.” Kai assured.

Vulcan smirked at the ninja. “Give up yet?” He asked. Vulcan started walking towards the ninja, but was stopped as a large rock shot from the ground, making him stumble.

The ninja all looked at Cole.

“I didn’t do that.” Cole said.

“What the? Who did that!?” Vulcan demanded.

“Stay away from them!”

Vulcan turned around to see the other fusions, Ridge in the lead.

“What the? What are you guys doing here?” Jay asked.

“We’re here to help you fight Vulcan.” Swift replied. 

Vulcan smirked. “Alright, more competition.” 

“Oh, I didn’t know this was a competition,” Fleet replied. “Too bad you’re gonna lose!”

“Ergh!” Vulcan grunted. He ran towards the fusions who quickly split up. Vulcan ran in to punch Ridge, but he easily dodged. He dodged each of Vulcan’s punches before kicking him back and shooting a lightning blast at him. “AGH!” Vulcan yelled. “Stand still!”

“Nah, that sounds like a bad idea.” Ridge replied.

Frustrated, Vulcan shot a fireball at Ridge. It was too fast for Ridge to dodge and he was knocked back. Vulcan was about to finish Ridge off, but was stopped as a dart hit his arm, disappearing as soon as it made contact.

“Ow! Hey!” Vulcan yelled, turning towards Swift.

Swift smirked before sending out a barrage of darts at Vulcan. Vulcan quickly created a wall of earth to try and block all of the darts. But as more and more darts hit the wall, it started to crack. Vulcan finally shot the wall forward towards Swift. Swift had no time to react and was knocked back as the wall slammed into his body, crumbling on top of him. 

“Alright, who’s next?” Vulcan asked. He felt a shock on his back and turned around to see Fleet giggling.

“Try and catch me!” He taunted before backflipping away.

Vulcan ran after Fleet, attempting to shoot him with his fire, but Fleet was too nimble. Fleet paused for a moment. “Fireballs? Cute. But how about this?” Fleet held out his hand, creating a large inferno that slowly turned blue. Vulcan froze for a second. Fleet launched the flame towards Vulcan, but he managed to roll out of the way. He glared at Fleet before slamming his fist onto the ground. The ground shook slightly before a large rock spike shot out of the ground, launching Fleet into the air.

“AHH!” Fleet cried as he flew towards the large rock. He flew past it, hitting a tree.

“Oh, Fleet, good timing!” Jay said. “You watch Chip, I’m gonna help out with the fighting.”

“What?” Fleet asked.

“Just make sure he doesn’t try to leave!” Jay called, running away.

“Uhh…” Fleet replied, turning towards Chip. Chip stared at him, scared.

“Y-you’re not gonna hurt me, are you?” Chip asked.

“Of course not.” Fleet assured. “Hey, wanna see something cool?”

“Um…”   
“Bam! Look at that!” Fleet said, creating a small blue flame in his hand.

Chip started crying, whimpering something that Fleet couldn’t understand.

“Uhh…” Fleet replied. “I’ll take it you don’t like fire then…”

Vulcan still stood in the middle of the area, cracking his knuckles. “C’mon, isn’t there anyone who stands a chance against me?” He felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned around to see Techtonic, staring at him with his monotone expression. “Oh please, a nerd like you won't stand a chance against me.” Vulcan readied a flaming punch for Techtonic, but Techtonic easily grabbed his fist, stopping his punch instantly. “Huh?”

“You hurt Fleet.” Techtonic said before grabbing Vulcan’s arm and flipping him behind himself, slamming him onto the ground with enough force to create cracks in the ground. 

“Woah,” Ridge commented. “Remind me not to get on Techtonic’s bad side.”

“You shouldn’t have to worry about that.” Cole replied.

Vulcan grunted before getting back up. “AGH!” he yelled, attempting to punch Techtonic, but he was able to easily stop every single punch. Eventually, Techtonic moved out of the way, causing Vulcan to stumble forward slightly. He turned back towards Techtonic who quickly kicked him to the ground. Techtonic then stomped on the ground, creating a rocky mass that surrounded Vulcan’s body. Techtonic held his hands out to try and keep the rock surrounding Vulcan’s body from being destroyed by Vulcan’s powers.

“Ridge, Cole, a little help here.” Techtonic called.

The two of them nodded before getting up, helping Techtonic to keep Vulcan trapped. Vulcan attempted to break free, but was unable to overpower the three other masters of earth.

“Alright Chip, you’re turn!” Techtonic called.

“Wh-what!?” Chip stammered. “Wh-what am I supposed to do!?”   
“Go talk to him.” Swift assured. “He won’t hurt you.”

“B-but…”   
“Or you can just finish him off.” Fleet replied. “You can do it, Chip!”

He pushed Chip from behind the rock. He looked over at Vulcan, his eyes wide with fear. He was about to back away, but Swift quickly pushed him closer towards Vulcan. The others continued holding Vulcan still, so he couldn’t move. He glared at Chip, a scowl on his face. Chip stared at him. He slowly lifted his arm up, preparing a lightning attack. Vulcan flinched slightly, but tried to not make it apparent. Chip closed his eyes as he readied the attack. He opened one of his eyes, looking at Vulcan once more before lowering his arm.

“I-I can’t do it!” he cried.

Vulcan blinked in surprise. "What?" he asked. Something about the way Chip refused to attack him felt familiar somehow.

Chip turned away and curled into a ball, his body trembling from fear. “I’m sorry, I can’t do it!” he cried. “He-he’ll hurt me! He’s too scary!”

“He’s not scary, Chip.” Kai tried to assure him, running over to comfort him. 

“Yeah, he cares about you.” Jay added. “Even if it doesn’t seem like it.”

Vulcan watched the others comforting Chip in confusion.  _ What does he mean ‘I’m not scary’?  _ He wondered.  _ He SHOULD be scared of me, right? _

“B-but he threatened to beat me up before…” Chip replied softly.

“He can still change though.” Jay assured. “Just because he’s done some bad things in the past, doesn’t mean he can’t learn to better himself.”

Vulcan’s eyes went wide as he realized what felt so familiar. He saw himself, cowering before Chip. Chip was about to finish him off, but stopped, breaking down into tears, apologizing for something. Now it was his turn to finish off Chip, but he couldn’t… 

Vulcan shook his head as he saw something else. “Why would you want to better yourself for people who hate you?” he heard someone ask. 

“I’m not doing it for other people.” Vulcan heard himself speak. “I’m doing it for me!”   
The rocks around Vulcan started to rumble as his body began to glow. Everyone backed away slightly. “I can still better myself…” Vulcan said. “I don’t have to live my life based on who I used to be!” The rocks flew off as Vulcan’s body burst into light, everyone shielding their faces. The light faded away and everyone slowly looked back at Vulcan, standing proudly in his ninja gi. 

Chip stared up at Vulcan, still fearful of him. “Wh-what just happened?” he asked.

“Chip, are you ok?” Vulcan asked. He reached a hand out towards Chip, but he flinched away, backing away slightly.

Vulcan pulled his arm back, looking around at all the other ninja. “Hold on, what’s going on here?”

“It’s a bit of a long story,” Jay explained, “But basically, Vena separated you guys from us and you were acting like a jerk because you didn’t have your memories.”

Vulcan blinked in confusion. “That sounds like something Vena would do…”

“Alright alright, enough talking, we need to get everyone back to the monastery now.” Kai said. “Vena needs to do the counterspell so you guys don’t disappear forever.”

“But what’s wrong with Chip?” Vulcan asked.

“Oh, he’s scared of you.” Jay explained. "You threatened to beat him up so now he thinks you're gonna beat him up."

“Ugh! I’m such an idiot!” Vulcan yelled at himself. “Chip, I’m so sorry.”

Chip continued backing away from Vulcan, still clearly weary of him. Seeing Chip be so afraid of him made Vulcan feel sick inside.

“It’s ok, Vulcan.” Zane assured. “Chip isn’t acting like himself either. He hasn’t gotten his memories back.”

“Let’s just get back to the monastery and then we can sort everything out.” Cole said.

Vulcan nodded quietly as they all started to make their way back to the monastery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know a lot of people thought Vulcan was gonna be really timid, but this is what I had planned from the start. Hopefully timid Chip will make up for it...


	7. Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ninja still need to get Chip's memories back, so they make Vulcan do it because they're all tired.

The ninja all made their way back to the monastery. Chip attempted to leave multiple times, so Techtonic ended up having to carry him. Vulcan offered to carry him, but Chip was still too scared of him.

“Alright, Vena,” Jay said as they got back. “We’ve got everyone back. Can you do the spell now and get everything back to normal?”

“Alright,” Vena replied. “But just to make sure, you did get everyone’s memories back, right?”

Everyone looked at each other, confused. Techtonic set Chip on the floor. Chip looked at Vena and instantly started crying.

“Wh-who is she!?” he asked, panicked. “Is she gonna hurt me!?”

“No one’s gonna hurt you, Chip!” Jay replied, annoyed.

“Hm. That doesn’t seem normal.” Vena commented. “Yeah, you guys should probably try and get his memories back first.”

“Wait, I thought you’d be able to put them back even without their memories.” Kai said.

“Well, I actually don’t know…” Vena admitted. “There’s a very high chance that Chip won’t be the same Chip if I perform the spell without his memories.”

“What is she talking about?” Chip asked.

“Don’t worry about it.” Jay replied. “So what do we need to do to get his memories back?”

“We need to remind him of a memory.” Cole replied.

“A significant memory.” Zane reminded.

“Ok, how do we do that?” Jay asked.

“Ugh! I’m tired of this!” Kai complained. “Vulcan, go hang out with Chip and try to get his memories back.”

“What!? Why me?” Vulcan questioned. “Why can’t you guys do it?”

“Because we’re tired from having to hunt you guys down all day.” Kai replied.

“And also you beat us up.” Cole added.

“That wasn’t entirely my fault.” Vulcan defended. He glanced over at Chip who instantly flinched and turned away when Vulcan looked at him. “Plus, he hates me! How am I supposed to do anything?”

“You’ll figure it out.” Jay assured. “The real Chip loves you, you just need to remind him of that.”

“Ok, but-”

“Oh my God! Stop stalling!” Fleet yelled, interrupting the conversation. “We don’t really have all day!”

“But-”

Before Vulcan could try to come up with another excuse, Cole started to push him and Chip away into a separate room. 

“Wait, hold on!” Vulcan yelled.

“Nope, you’re not getting out of this one.” Cole said. He pushed the two fusions into the room before closing the door.

“Ugh!” Vulcan groaned.

“I-I’m sorry…” Chip mumbled. Vulcan turned around and saw Chip sitting on the ground, hiding half of his face in his sweater. “This is my fault, isn’t it?”

“No no no,” Vulcan assured. He sat down on the ground in front of Chip. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Chip looked up at Vulcan. “Why are you being nice to me?” he asked.

“I don’t know, I care about you?” Vulcan replied. “Do I need a reason to be nice to you?”

“W-well it’s just… You wanted to beat me up earlier and now you’re acting like a completely different person…”

Vulcan let out a sigh. “Yeah, magic is confusing.” he said. He attempted to scooch closer to Chip, but Chip immediately started scooching back. Vulcan knew this wasn’t the real Chip, but it still hurt him to see how scared he was of him. Even when Vulcan first formed and he wanted nothing but to fight everything he saw, Chip wasn’t scared of him.

“What are you gonna do with me?” Chip asked.

“What?”

“They said something about me not having my memories.” Chip replied. “Are you gonna do something scary to me? Am I actually missing memories? I don’t know what’s going on!” Chip suddenly began to cry. The tears started spilling from his eyes and Vulcan began to panic.

“No no, don’t cry!” Vulcan pleaded. “You don’t need to cry, it’s ok! Everything’s ok!” Despite Vulcan’s efforts, Chip continued sobbing. Vulcan stood up and looked around the room.

_ They said I had to remind him of a memory…  _ Vulcan remembered.  _ But how do I do that? _

Vulcan glanced around the room until he noticed a light blue blanket. “Ah ha!” he cheered. He grabbed the blanket and showed it to Chip. “Look! Do you remember this blanket?” he asked.

Chip sniffled a bit. “No… Should I?”

“Uh… How about this?” Vulcan asked, covering himself with the blanket. He hid in the blanket cocoon, poking his face out slightly to look up at Chip. “Remember? You tried to squirt me with a spray bottle and I got scared.”

Chip blinked at Vulcan, clearly confused.

“Ok, you don’t remember that…” Vulcan replied, throwing the blanket off. “This would just be so much easier if Jay and Zane were here to help! How am I supposed to know what your memories are like!?”

Chip flinched back as Vulcan raised his voice. “I-I don’t know.”

Vulcan sighed. “It was a rhetorical question, Chip.”

“Oh…”

Vulcan started looking around the room, thinking of another plan. Chip stared at Vulcan, his eyes were still full of worry. He was still confused about what was going on. He didn’t know who these people were and how they seemed to know him. However, part of him felt like something was… off.

“How… how do I act normally?” Chip asked.

“Hm?” Vulcan questioned. “What do you mean?”

“Everyone’s been acting like something’s off with me, like I’m not acting normal.” Chip explained. “How am I supposed to act?”

“Well, for one, you’re normally really brave.” Vulcan explained. “You would stand up to big jerks even when you knew you wouldn’t be able to beat them in a fight.”

“Really?” Chip questioned. “I could never do that…”

“Of course you can!” Vulcan replied. “You’ve done it before. And you can actually kick major butt when you want to.”

“That doesn’t sound like me…” Chip whispered.

“Oh trust me,” Vulcan replied. “I know from experience.”

Chip was quiet for a moment. “What else?”

“Well, you’re really smart. You would always know what to do and you’d always be able to figure out how to stop villains.”

“V-Villains!?” Chip squeaked.

“Yeah, we fight villains all the time!”

“That sounds really scary…”

“Ok, ok, let’s talk about something else then.” Vulcan said. He thought for a moment. “Another thing about you,” he continued. “You always put others before yourself. You never wanted to make people upset and wanted to help people, even people who probably didn’t deserve it…” Vulcan’s voice went quiet for a little bit.

“That sounds nice…” Chip replied. He looked to the ground, a small smile on his face. The smile quickly faded. “I… I don’t know if I could live up to those expectations…”

“What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know, it just seems like the person you remember me as was this amazing, brave person. And I’m just a coward and a crybaby…”

“Oh, don’t say that.” Vulcan said. 

“It’s true though!” Chip snapped, unexpectedly. “I can’t do anything right!”

Vulcan blinked in surprise, not prepared for Chip’s sudden change in tone.

Chip looked away again. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get mad at you…”

“Oh, c’mon, we’ve been through this before, it’s ok for you to-” Vulcan paused for a moment. “Wait a minute, that’s it!”

“What’s it?”

“Hold on, you stay right here.” Vulcan directed, standing up. “I’m gonna need some help. I’ll be right back.”

“Oh… ok…” Chip replied quietly as Vulcan left the room.

Vulcan walked into the crowded living room where everyone else was relaxing. Kai looked over as he noticed Vulcan enter.

“Hey, Vulcan.” he greeted. “Did you fix Chip yet?”

“No,” Vulcan replied. “But I think I know how to get him back!”

“Really? How?” Kai asked.

“We need to make him angry.” Vulcan replied.

Jay let out a gasp. “Like when he found his true potential!” he realized.

“Of course!” Zane agreed. “We just need to remind him of how he unlocked his true potential.”

“Don’t worry guys, I’ve got this.” Fleet said, standing up. “I’ve been told before that I’m a natural at being annoying.”

“Uhh, I don’t think that’ll be a good idea.” Ridge suggested. “I’m pretty sure there’s a difference between being angry and being annoyed.”

“Well, do you have a better idea?” Fleet asked rudely.

Everyone started thinking again until finally Zane thought of something. “What if we all start insulting Vulcan?”

“What?” Vulcan questioned.

“Oh yeah, that made him really angry when Lloyd and Nya did it.” Jay remembered.

“Well, it’s worth a shot.” Kai agreed. “Let’s go.”

Chip continued sitting in the room alone, not moving from his spot. He fidgeted with his fingers as he waited for Vulcan to get back. He heard the door open and looked up, only to be overwhelmed with everyone entering the room at once.

“WHAH!” Chip screamed. “Wh-why are you all here!? Did I do something wrong!?”

“No no, you’re fine.” Kai assured. “But Vulcan on the other hand…”

“Wh-what did Vulcan do?” Chip asked, worry in his voice.

“He really thought he could get your memories back by himself?” Cole questioned. “What an idiot!”

“D-don’t call him an idiot!” Chip defended. "You guys were the ones who made him do this…"

“Oh please,” Fleet interjected. “I thought I was a little self-centered, but Vulcan? He thinks he’s so cool, thinking he can just fight us one second and then act like it didn’t even happen the next!”

“B-but, I thought he wasn’t acting like himself before…” Chip replied. “I… I thought he was actually being nice to me.”

“I was being nice.” Vulcan replied. “Chip, I care about you.”

“That’s just what he’s saying to get on your good side.” Swift said. “After everything he’s done in the past, I’m surprised you even tolerate him, Chip.”

“Yeah, he’s a terrible person!” Ridge agreed. “He only cares about himself.”

“Plus he’s stinky.” Techtonic added.

“No he’s not!” Chip yelled, standing up. “He’s been acting really nice to me! Trying to make me feel comfortable even though I was treating him like a bad person!” He looked over at Vulcan. “He’s… actually really nice.”

Chip felt like he could see a faint image in his head, but he couldn’t quiet make out what it was. The room was dark and Chip could see two other people in the room. He saw himself begin to leave the room, telling the other people to “fix it”, but he didn’t quite know what that meant.

“Don’t defend him!” Jay yelled. “He’s tried to hurt so many people! You saw what he did earlier!”

Chip snapped his head towards Jay. “That’s not who he really is!” he yelled. “Why are you all being so mean to him!?” Chip continued glaring at the others, tiny sparks started to fly off of his body. He shook his head, the sparks dying down. “I-I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I shouldn’t be getting mad… That’s not nice of me, I’m sorry.”

The others looked at each other, worried that their plan wasn’t working. Vulcan walked over to Chip, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Chip,” he said. “Don’t apologize. It’s ok to be mad sometimes.”

Chip’s eyes went wide. “It’s ok to be mad sometimes…” he whispered back. He turned back to the others, glaring at them as his body slowly began to glow. “What nerve do you all have to insult Vulcan like that!?” he yelled. “All he did was try to help but you guys still treat him like he’s some sort of MONSTER!” Chip’s body began to glow brighter as he stepped closer to the group. Everyone started to slowly back up as Chip approached. “DO YOU EVEN REMEMBER THE THINGS I’VE DONE!?” Chip’s mind became swarmed with memories of him fighting. He saw himself fighting a large shadow, before fighting his friends, unable to control his anger anymore. Chip finally burst into light, a large blast of lightning and ice hitting the others. They all fell onto the ground as the blast hit them. Chip looked down at them as the light faded, a smile on his face as he wore his ninja gi. He let out a sigh. “I just had to get that off my chest, sorry.”

“CHIP!” Vulcan cheered, grabbing the fusion and hugging him tight.

“ACK!” Chip squeaked. “H-Hey Vulcan!”

The others all stood up, staring at the two fusions hugging. 

“Hey, it worked!” Fleet cheered.

“Well of course it worked!” Jay retorted. “Why wouldn’t it?”

“Ok, Vulcan, you can let go now.” Chip said.

“Heh heh,” Vulcan chuckled as he released Chip. “I was getting worried about you.”

“Hey, don’t worry, I’m fine now.” Chip assured. He turned his head towards the others before looking back at Vulcan, a smile still on his face. “What the fuck is going on?”

“It’s a long story.” Everyone replied.

“Ok, long story short,” Cole said. “Vena did a spell, you guys are all here, we need to put you back, got it?”

“Ooooh, yeah that makes sense.” Chip replied. 

“Well, now that we have everyone back,” Zane said. “We’d better go tell Vena.”

Everyone began to leave the room, but Chip stopped Vulcan for a moment.

“Hey, Vulcan?” Chip asked.

“Yeah?”

Chip smiled at the other fusion. “Thanks.”

Vulcan blinked before returning Chip’s smile. “No problem.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to post this, school has been REALLY stressful lately. I hope to get the next chapter out soon, so hopefully nothing comes up that prevents me from posting again. I hope you guys understand.


	8. Everyone Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Vena finishes up working on the counter spell, the ninja realize why it's probably a good thing their fusions don't normally all exist at the same time.

Vena was flipping through the pages of her spellbook in a panic as the others walked in.

“Alright, Vena, we got everyone.” Kai announced.

Vena turned around and saw Chip standing with everyone else, his signature smile on his face. She gave him a slightly nervous look before turning to the other ninja.

“Alright,” she replied, “Just uh… give me a moment.”

“Is everything ok, Vena?” Zane asked.

“Yeah yeah, it’s fine.” Vena replied, continuing to look through her spellbook. “I’m just a little nervous about performing the counterspell.”

“Oh please, how hard can it be?” Fleet retorted.

“I just don’t know how well it’ll work.” Vena replied, glaring back at Fleet. “It’s not like I can test it out to see what will happen. It either works and everything goes back to normal, or it doesn’t work and I end up fucking everything up again.”

“Vena, don’t put so much pressure on yourself.” Techtonic assured. He walked up, placing a hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be fine.”

Vena let out a sigh. “I think I just need a little more time.”

“WE DON’T HAVE-” Fleet started yelling before Swift placed a hand over the smaller fusion’s mouth.

“We understand, Vena.” Swift said.

“Thanks guys.” Vena responded. “I promise I’ll fix this, ok?”

_____________________________________________

Everyone sat around in the living room as they waited for Vena to finish preparing the spell. Nya and Lloyd both sat to the side, both of them feeling slightly awkward as they saw all of the fusions at once. Everyone seemed to be feeling somewhat awkward. The whole room was silent as no one knew what to say.

“So, what do you guys wanna do?” Fleet asked.

“I wanna just sit here and do nothing.” Ridge replied.

“Sitting is nice.” Swift agreed.

“I like sitting.” Chip added.

“Ok.” Fleet replied. He started to kick his legs and rock back and forth as he tried to entertain himself. Everything was fine until Fleet started making weird noises to pass the time.

“Hey, Fleet, you think maybe you can stop that?” Kai asked.

“Oh, sure.” Fleet replied. He sat completely still for a moment before he started making more noises.

“N-no, I meant the noises.” Kai clarified. “Stop making those annoying noises.”

“Oh, ok.” Fleet replied. 

The room went quiet again as everyone just looked around awkwardly. Then, Fleet broke the silence once more as he started humming a song. Everyone looked over at him as he started bouncing up and down to the song. He then started singing. “ _ And then we jump back, do it again- _ ”

“OH MY GOD, FLEET, SHUT UP!” Vulcan yelled, causing Fleet to jump back slightly.

“Ugh, fine!” Fleet complained. “You guys hate fun.” He slouched in his seat, crossing his arms.

The room went quiet once more, until this time, Techtonic decided to break the silence.

“ _ Jump up, kick back, whip around and spin. _ ”

“I can’t take this anymore!” Vulcan yelled, standing up. “How long is Vena gonna take!?”   
“I don’t know.” Swift replied. “We just need to be patient.”

“Oh, c’mon, Vulcan.” Chip tried to cheer him up. “This is fun, we get to hang out with everyone as the thought of death looms over our heads. What more could you want?”

“I think I’d appreciate less of the death looming over my head.” Vulcan replied.

“Ok, you know what? I’m hungry. I’m gonna go find some food.” Cole said, standing up before heading towards the kitchen.

“Hey Cole, can you grab me a bag of chips?” Jay called.

“Sure.” Cole replied.

“I bet Vulcan wants some of those chips if you know what I mean.” Fleet joked, nudging Techtonic on the arm. “WHAH!” Fleet yelled as Vulcan launched a fireball at him.

Chip let out a laugh before turning to Vulcan. “I don’t get it.” he whispered.

“Just don’t think about it too much.” Vulcan advised.

“Ok, WHO ATE MY CAKE!?” Cole yelled from the kitchen. He came storming back into the living room holding an empty plate. “I had an entire chocolate cake on this plate! Where did it go!?”   
Ridge let out a fake gasp before turning towards the others. “Techtonic and or Vulcan! How could you?” he blamed.

Everyone looked over at the other two fusions. Swift looked back at Ridge before turning to Cole. “Yeah, Ridge ate your cake,” he said.

“Swift!” Ridge yelled.

“Ridge, how could you!?” Cole asked. “I thought I could trust you!”

“You can’t just leave an entire cake out like that and expect me not to eat it!” Ridge argued.

“It was in the fridge!”

Ridge paused for a moment. “Yeah, and who’s the one who left it in the fridge for me to find?”

“You owe me a cake!” Cole yelled.

“How can I owe you a cake? I’m a fusion!”

“Fine. Jay, you owe me a cake.” Cole replied.

“What!?” Jay questioned. “I didn’t take your cake, why do I have to get you a new one!?”

“You need to take responsibility for your fusion.”

“He’s your fusion too!” Jay argued. “The only reason he ate your cake is because he’s your fusion!”

“Are you implying that Techtonic or Vulcan would eat my cake?”

“I would definitely eat your cake.” Vulcan admitted.

“Same.” Techtonic added. “We’re half privileged to the cake.”

“I can’t trust any of you.” Cole said.

“Cole, we can go get you a new cake after Vena finishes the spell.” Zane comforted the black ninja. 

“Well hold on, if there’s cake involved, I want some of it.” Vulcan argued.

“Oo! Yeah! We should totally get a huge cake for all of us!” Fleet suggested.

“Fleet, we’re not gonna get a cake!” Kai argued. “We need to wait for Vena to finish the spell so you guys don’t die!”

“But we’ll never be able to eat a cake with all of us together like this unless we do it now!” Fleet argued.

“Yeah, c’mon Kai, let’s get a cake!” Vulcan agreed.

“Cake would be nice.” Chip agreed.

All of the fusions started talking about cake and how much they wanted a cake, except for Swift who was silent.

“Swift, you don’t want cake?” Kai questioned.

“Oh, I’m just kinda seeing how this plays out.” Swift replied. “Cake would be nice though.”

The ninja just sat there, annoyed as the fusions kept talking about cake.

“Would you guys just go get them some cake already!?” Nya yelled.

“Why don’t you two go get the stupid cake?” Kai asked, angrily. “We’ve already spent the whole day looking for all of them! Don’t we deserve a break?”   
“Well, they’re your fusions.” Lloyd responded. “We’re not responsible for them.”

“Ok fine!” Kai said. “We’ll go get a cake.”

“Yay!” the fusions cheered. But their celebration was quickly interrupted as Vena entered the room.

“Alright everyone, I think I have this all figured out.” she informed.

“Cool! No more cake!” Kai said.

“Aww,” the fusions complained.

“Ok everyone, get ready.” Zane instructed. “We cannot mess this up.”

The fusions all stood up, but Ridge quickly stopped them. “Hold on guys,” he said. “Can we have a group hug first?”

“What?” Vulcan asked. “Why would we do that?”

“Because I’m gonna miss you guys.” Ridge replied, his eyes watery.

Chip sniffled slightly. “I’m gonna miss you too, Ridge!”

Vulcan rolled his eyes. “He’s not gonna be dead!” he said. “You didn’t even interact with him at all!”

“Oh, c’mon, Vulcan,” Chip urged. “We should have one big group hug! It’ll be fun!”

They all surrounded each other with a big hug. Ridge looked over at the four ninja.

“C’mon guys, get in here!” he called.

The ninja smiled before walking over to join the hug. Jay looked up at them and sniffled. “You guys are great,” he said. 

“We’re great because you’re great.” Ridge replied.

They continued the hug for a little while longer before finally releasing, stepping back. They all smiled at each other, but were interrupted as they heard quiet sobbing noises. Everyone looked over at Fleet who had tears streaming from his eyes.

“Fleet, are you ok?” Swift asked.

“I’M NOT CRYING! YOU’RE CRYING!” Fleet yelled as the tears continued to fall.

“Ok, ok,” Vena interrupted. “Let’s get this over with. Is everyone ready?”

The ninja all stepped back as the fusions got back into line.

“We’re ready.” Ridge nodded.

Vena let out a sigh before opening her book. She began to cast the spell, a purple mist beginning to fill the room. The mist swirled around the fusions, surrounding their bodies. They all slowly started to turn into light, starting at their feet, the light making its way up their body. As each fusion turned into a ball of light, they gently floated up before floating towards the ninja. One by one, the balls of light disappeared as the mist began to surround the ninja instead. As the light disappeared, so did the mist until the entire room was cleared. Vena closed her book before turning towards the ninja.

“So, did it work?” she asked nervously.

“Only one way to find out.” Cole replied before turning towards Jay. He grabbed his hand before hugging him. The two of them stood there for while, the others watching as nothing happened.

“Oh no, it didn't work!” Jay said before looking up at Cole. The two of them smiled at each other before quickly turning to light as they formed Ridge.

Ridge let out a chuckle as he formed. “I’m just kidding,” he replied. “Of course it worked!”

“God dangit, Ridge!” Vena yelled.

Kai tried to stifle a laugh while Zane just let out a sigh. 

Ridge turned back into light, splitting back into Cole and Jay.

“You did a great job, Vena.” Cole said.

“Thanks.” Vena replied. “Sorry I caused this whole mess.”

“It’s ok, Vena.” Zane assured. “It is fixed now.”

“Or is it?” Jay asked, walking over to Kai. He placed a hand on the red ninja. “I think Vena forgot to put Fleet back!”

Zane let out a gasp before turning towards Vena, a worried look on his face. Vena just glared at the two ninja before they fused together, forming Fleet.

“Ha ha, just kidding!” Fleet laughed. “Again.”

“Ok, stop messing around.” Zane ordered.

Fleet unfused, leaving Jay and Kai laughing at what they thought to be an amazing joke.

Vena rolled her eyes before beginning to walk away. She was about to leave the room before turning back towards the ninja one more time. She let out a soft smile before turning around again, heading back for her cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this mini story with the fusions. It was an idea I had a while ago and I'm glad I finally got around to writing it. (Maybe now I can actually get around to working on some s11 stuff)  
> That or I'm gonna work on some fics for some other au's, idk it's whatever I feel like doing next I guess


End file.
